Mattis: DOD has no plans to suspend future exercises with South Korea

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said today the Pentagon has no plans to suspend future military exercises with South Korea, despite the fact North Korea and President Trump called them "provocative."

Mattis, who spoke at the Pentagon, said the administration decided to suspend a large joint military exercise that had been scheduled for this month as part of a "good faith" gesture toward North Korea on the heels of an April meeting between the president and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore.

"At this time, there is no discussion about further suspensions," Mattis said. "We're making no change in the exercise program at this time."

Mattis' statement comes as negotiations over denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula have stalled, with Trump ordering Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to cancel an upcoming trip to Pyongyang.

Meanwhile, the United States and South Korea have another large joint military exercise scheduled for this spring, though Mattis would not commit to it.

"We have not made decisions on that at this time, and we will do that with consultation with State," he said. "Let's see how the negotiations go."

North Korea has long said the military exercises are provocative and Trump also described them that way after his meeting with Kim, which led to criticism on Capitol Hill, especially from the late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).

Mattis said several smaller exercises with South Korea are ongoing, but only because they could not have been interpreted by North Korea as threatening.

"We turned off several to make a good faith effort, we’re going to see how the negotiations go and then we will calculate the future how we go forward," he said.