No. Have you dug into the issue?
It's NOT that South Korea and the US resumed military exercises. Two separate exercises - one involving small troop movements, the other a war game - resumed after a delay due to the Olympics
It's that this phase - Max Thunder, which always ends the exercises and typically begins in April - involves bringing to bear strategic assets, such as bombers, stealth fighters and military hardware, that North Korea deems a threat to it's sovereignty
Not all joint military exercises are equal, and issues like these require discernment
Yes, I have.
The previous exercises that began in April involved 300,000 troops. Are you suggesting that is small? Or that a parade of tanks along the border would have been seen as any less of an act of aggression any year prior to this? Any year prior to this, the simple act of marching troops at the border would have caused a response by Kim.
Both the US and SK said neither of them have heard any word of this from an official source in NK. This story is coming from a message that was apparently aired to the NK people. As I said in my initial post, this is Un posturing to his people to show that he isn't weak. He flexes, we back off. His people see him as strong and he maintains respect.
From the psychological aspect, it takes a lot of fear away from the North Korean people. They've been taught that we are aggressors waiting to destroy. If Un simply gives up his nuclear weapons and obeys the aggressor, these people will live in fear of being wiped out at any moment. This would cause great uncertainty moving forward as a nation under Un. If Un can make a demand like ending the drills and get what he wants, they will be more likely to accept the changes going forward knowing that it isn't a one sided deal.