Sen. John McCain criticizes Donald Trump for ending Korean war games

PHOENIX — Sen. John McCain of Arizona said it’s a mistake for the United States to suspend joint military exercises with South Korea as a concession to North Korea after President Donald Trump’s summit with Kim Jong Un earlier this week.

McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, issued the following statement Thursday:

“Suspending U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises is a mistake. Making unnecessary and unreciprocated concessions is not in our interests — and it is a bad negotiating tactic. Parroting Chinese and North Korean propaganda by saying joint exercises are ‘provocative’ undermines our security and alliances. Moving forward, we must work closely with our allies, especially South Korea and Japan, which have critical equities in the outcome of this diplomatic process.

“I continue to hope that President Trump will be successful in his diplomatic efforts to achieve the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. But we must not impose upon ourselves the burden of providing so-called ‘good faith’ concessions as the price for continued dialogue.

“The United States must be clear: we want peace on the Korean Peninsula achieved through dialogue. But it is North Korea — through its nuclear and missile programs, aggressive behavior, and egregious human rights violations — that poses the greatest threat to peace. And until North Korea takes concrete steps to change that, no concessions should be made, and the sanctions must continue.”

Trump met with Kim in Singapore on Tuesday to negotiate about North Korea’s nuclear program. Afterward, Trump said the joint military exercises would stop and that North Korea promised to work toward denuclearization.

Annual military drills between the United States and South Korea have been a major source of tension on the Korean Peninsula. The North has called them an invasion rehearsal and responded with its own weapons tests.

McCain has been away from Washington since December while battling an aggressive form of brain cancer, but that hasn’t kept him from criticizing the president.

The six-term Republican has contested Trump for raising tariffs on steel, congratulating Russia’s Vladimir Putin for his election win, and attacking the FBI and the press, among other things.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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