The US and South Korea reduced the scale of annual springtime joint military drills long denounced by North Korea, as Seoul attempts to ease tensions with Pyongyang ahead of President Donald Trump's planned visit to the region.
The Freedom Shield exercises that began Monday will feature large-scale live training "aimed at enhancing interoperability, reinforcing our combined defense posture, and increasing overall combat readiness," the US military said.
A South Korean Defence Ministry official confirmed that the number of field training maneuvers taking place before the drills conclude on March 19 has been more than halved to 22 from 51 last year. North Korea has long claimed that the drills are a rehearsal for invasion.
It was not immediately clear if the reduction was in part due to the conflict in Iran. South Korea's Defense Ministry said on Monday that the drills are taking place according to plan "regardless of the situation in the Middle East." It has also said that the militaries are planning to hold field training in a balanced manner throughout the year.
This year's exercises take place after local media have reported the potential redeployment of US assets in the region to the Middle East, including Patriot missile defense batteries currently based in South Korea. South Korea's Defense Ministry declined to comment on US military operations when reached by Bloomberg News. US Forces Korea declined to confirm the reports, citing operational security.
"United States Forces Korea remains focused on maintaining a strong, ready, and combat-credible force posture on the Korean Peninsula," it said in a statement.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has taken a series of steps meant to improve relations with North Korea since taking office in June last year. So far North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has slammed the overtures, calling them a "clumsy and unconvincing deception."
Speaking at a ruling party congress last month, Kim laid out his vision for more nuclear development, while urging the US to drop its longstanding demand that his country denuclearize before any dialogue can resume.
During his first term as president, Trump had three meetings with Kim. The discussions didn't lead to any concrete steps to wind down Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.
Kim's fresh push to be recognised as a nuclear state comes as the US president prepares a visit to the region in coming weeks that will include a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday signaled the situation in the Mideast would not affect Xi's plan to host Trump.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
