--- title: Winter Olympics Military Drills Off South Korea Canceled description: The U.S. and South Korea agreed it was a good idea to delay regular war drills until after the winter Olympic games were over. canonical: https://time.com/5088363/the-u-s-just-canceled-war-drills-off-the-korean-peninsula-during-the-olympics/ author: W.J. Hennigan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-04T18:40:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:04:08.017Z article:section: Politics og:title: The U.S. Just Canceled War Drills Off the Korean Peninsula During the Olympics og:description: The decision came amid rising tension with North Korea. og:url: https://time.com/5088363/the-u-s-just-canceled-war-drills-off-the-korean-peninsula-during-the-olympics/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltefef92af85d1607d/6988f71a0a4a2270ee9d148d/gettyimages-891246742.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: This picture taken on December 12, 2017 shows a South Korean worker setting up a cable at the Olympic Stadium, the venue of the opening and closing ceremony for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, in Pyeongchang. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The U.S. Just Canceled War Drills Off the Korean Peninsula During the Olympics twitter:description: The decision came amid rising tension with North Korea. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltefef92af85d1607d/6988f71a0a4a2270ee9d148d/gettyimages-891246742.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The U.S. Just Canceled War Drills Off the Korean Peninsula During the Olympics > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: North Korea Has Accepted the South's Offer For Talks Next Week [Watch (HLS stream): North Korea Has Accepted the South's Offer For Talks Next Week](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/wY9FTTVa.m3u8) (1:09)  _Published 2018-01-05. The rival Koreas agreed Friday to revive their first formal dialogue in more than two years next week to find ways to cooperate on the upcoming Winter Olympics in the South._  by [W.J. Hennigan](https://time.com/author/w-j-hennigan/)  ## W.J. Hennigan Jan 4, 2018 6:40 PM UTC  This picture taken on December 12, 2017 shows a South Korean worker setting up a cable at the Olympic Stadium, the venue of the opening and closing ceremony for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, in Pyeongchang. This picture taken on December 12, 2017 shows a South Korean worker setting up a cable at the Olympic Stadium, the venue of the opening and closing ceremony for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, in Pyeongchang.AFP Contributor—AFP/Getty Images  by [W.J. Hennigan](https://time.com/author/w-j-hennigan/)  ## W.J. Hennigan Jan 4, 2018 6:40 PM UTC With hundreds of thousands of people headed to eastern South Korea for this year’s Olympics amid a tense nuclear standoff, the U.S. and South Korea agreed it was a good idea to delay regular war drills until after the winter games were over. The PyeongChang Olympic Games, set for Feb. 9 to 25 followed by the Paralympics from March 8 to 18, will take place in a mountainous, snow-blanketed region of South Korea located about 50 miles south of the Demilitarized Zone, a heavily fortified border area where North and South Korean troops maintain a constant presence in a tense stand-off. President Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-In decided Thursday in a phone call to put off the two-month-long military exercise, dubbed Foal Eagle, [which involves air, sea and special operations drills](https://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/1102331/us-south-korea-launch-annual-foal-eagle-exercise/). North Korea considers the annual event to be a threat and prelude for war. “I believe it would greatly help ensure the success of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games if you could express an intention to delay joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises during the Olympics in case the North does not make any more provocations,” Moon told Trump, according to [South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.](http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2018/01/04/0200000000AEN20180104013352315.html) The White House [issued a statement](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/readout-president-donald-j-trumps-call-president-moon-jae-republic-korea-4/) on the call that said the U.S. and South Korea “are committed to a safe and successful” Winter Olympic Games. “The two leaders agreed to de-conflict the Olympics and our military exercises so that United States and Republic of Korea forces can focus on ensuring the security of the Games,” the statement said. The call between Moon and Trump came a day after North and South Korea re-opened dialogue channel via cross-country hotline — talks that had been dormant since December 2015\. The conversation came two days after Trump [took to Twitter](http://time.com/5085367/donald-trump-north-korea-nuclear-button-tweet/) to say he has “a much bigger & more powerful” [nuclear button](http://time.com/5085979/donald-trump-nuke-button-nuclear-north-korea/) than North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, the latest brash statement in a war of words between the two. Indeed, large-scale military exercises have long been a concern on the Korean Peninsula when tensions rise, which has been the case since Trump took office. The chance for miscalculation could have dire consequences during tense periods. In 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down killing 283 passengers and 15 crew members while flying over a war-torn region of eastern Ukraine that had been the scene of fierce fighting between the Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists. A multi-national investigation report issued in 2016 investigators said it found “irrefutable evidence” that the airliner had been shot down by a Russian BUK missile, which the Kremlin has denied. In 2010, a torpedo sank a South Korean navy ship operating in the Yellow Sea, killing 46 sailors. The North Korean government denied its involvement, despite evidence to the contrary. And in 1983, Korean Air Lines Flight 007 from Anchorage to Seoul was shot down September 1983 by a Soviet fighter jet, killing 246 passengers and 23 crew members. The 747 jumbo jet had deviated from its original planned route and flew through prohibited Soviet airspace during a tense moment of the Cold War. 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