LOC12:32
09:32 GMT
TOKYO, Feb 20 (KUNA) -- South Korea's Defense Ministry affirmed Tuesday that its troops would conduct military drills with the US despite Olympics-driven rapprochement with North Korea, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The allies will hold two different exercises in order to develop their so-called 4D Operational Concept; to detect, disrupt, destroy and defend, against North Korean missile threats, the ministry said in a report to the National Assembly. But, it did not mention the field training and the exact schedule for the drills, which is staged in the summer. The allies used to begin exercises in late February or early March.
This year, they agreed to postpone the annual maneuvers until after the end of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics and Paralympics in mid-March.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in recently received an invitation from the North's leader Kim Jong-un to visit Pyongyang. The South hopes to maintain the momentum created by the North's participation in the PyeongChang Games. The North has long urged the allies to stop their joint military training, which it regards as a rehearsal for aggression.
In a written testimony submitted to US House Armed Services Committee hearing last week, Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, chief of the 28,000-strong US Forces Korea, stressed the importance of the drills. "We will execute the two major theater-level command post exercises and one theater-level field training exercise each year," he said. Those trainings are essential to strengthen the alliance and deter North Korean aggression, he added. (end)
mk.hb