The defense forces of South Korea and the United States on Sunday started their annual joint exercises, after having postponed them and reduced their duration this year due to the current rapprochement with North Korea, the Seoul defense ministry announced.

Around 11,500 US troops and some 300,000 South Korean soldiers are set to participate in the first of the two drills, Foal Eagle, which will continue for four weeks, one month less than its normal duration. </s> More than 11,500 service members, including thousands based outside of Korea, plan to participate in the four-week Foal Eagle training, along with around 300,000 South Korean soldiers.

The allies often kick off their largest annual military exercise in late February or early March for a two-month run. This year, however, they waited until the end of the PyeongChang Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The Foal Eagle field exercise, which usually involves combined ground, air, naval and special operations troops, will continue for a month. The computer-simulated Key Resolve is scheduled for two weeks starting in mid-April, added Yonhap. </s> U.S., South Korea kick off annual joint military exercises after month-long delay

South Korea and the United States kicked off their annual joint military exercises on Sunday after they were delayed by about a month for the Winter Olympics and to help create conditions for a resumption of talks between North and South Korea, Reuters reported.

The Foal Eagle field exercise, which usually involves combined ground, air, naval and special operations troops, will continue for a month. The computer-simulated Key Resolve will be held for two weeks starting in mid-April.

A Pentagon spokesman said in March the two joint drills would involve about 23,700 U.S. troops and 300,000 South Korean forces. Military officials in Seoul have said the scale of the exercises would not go beyond those seen in previous years.

The Foal Eagle and Key Resolve exercises are usually held every year around March but they were postponed this year until after the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and Paralympics, which started in February and ended last month.

North Korea, which has traditionally accused both South Korea and the United States of practising invading the North during joint military drills, has remained quiet on the issue. </s> SEOUL, April 1 (UPI) -- South Korean and the United States began their delayed joint military training on Sunday, mobilizing more than 300,000 troops.

Seoul's defense ministry said the springtime Foal Eagle kicked off with 11,500 U.S. troops and 300,000 South Korean soldiers taking part in the field training exercise, one of the largest military drills conducted annually in the world, SBS reported.

The exercise, which usually takes place late February or early March, was postponed this year to avoid an overlap with the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games held from February to March in South Korea.

President Moon Jae-in had requested the delay, in hopes of defusing tensions with North Korea, which has long seen the games as a rehearsal for war and used them as a pretext for provocations.

With cross-border relations appearing to improve as the two Koreas head to summit talks slated for later this month, observers have said the South Korea-U.S. drills have been notably scaled down this year.

The two-month long Foal Eagle exercise has been reduced to a four-week run with no major U.S. strategic assets such as supercarriers or nuclear submarines expected to be deployed to the peninsula, Yonhap reported.

However, authorities have denied the drill will be low-key compared to previous years, saying there is no change in the number of troops, the program or the intensity of the exercise.

From April 23, the two allies will also begin the computer simulated Key Resolve games for two weeks, involving 12,200 U.S. troops and 10,000 South Korean soldiers. </s> SEOUL, April 26 (UPI) -- South Korea and the United States have decided to suspend their annual combined military drills on the inter-Korean summit day, defense authorities here said Thursday.

The South Korean military will instead focus on providing "stable support" for the talks between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to be held at the border village of Panmunjom, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The allies kicked off the Key Resolve command-post training in Korea on Monday for a two-week run and agreed to finish the first part of the drill on Thursday.

"The South Korean and U.S. military authorities have decided to conduct the first part of the 2018 KR through Thursday, jointly concluding that the intended goals of the exercise have been attained," the JCS said.

They plan to continue the second part of this year's KR after the summit day break.

The two sides have also effectively wrapped up the Foal Eagle field training that began on April 1. At that time, the JCS announced it would last four weeks.

"Most of the programs in the Foal Eagle exercise will finish today," a military official said. "You can say that the training virtually comes to an end today."

The allies usually open the large-scale drills in late February or early March. This year they waited until the end of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

They are apparently playing low-key amid the peace mood in Korea, shortening the official training period and avoiding the deployment of such U.S. strategic assets as a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. </s> (CNN) The United States and South Korea announced Saturday that annual large-scale exercises, which were a cornerstone and recent common feature of the defense relationship between the two militaries, will end and will be re-configured into smaller exercises that do not carry the same high profile as earlier versions known to have been a major irritant to North Korea

The large scale named military exercises, commonly known as Foal Eagle and Key Resolve, were scheduled for this spring. The joint exercises will be scaled back and done on a small unit level or even include virtual training similar to the 2018 scaled back exercises.

Defense officials have said they believe they can achieve the necessary training needs in this manner. The announcement follows a phone call Saturday between acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan and South Korean Minister of National Defense Jeong Kyeong-doo.

"Following close coordination, both sides decided to conclude the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle series of exercises," a readout from the Defense Department of the phone call said. "The Minister and Secretary reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring the continued combined defense of U.S.-ROK (Republic of Korea) combined forces to meet any security challenge, and agreed to maintain firm military readiness through newly designed Command Post exercises and revised field training programs."

The US and South Korea will hold the military exercises from March 4 through March 12, the South Korean Defense Ministry said in a statement Sunday.

Read More </s> SEOUL, March 20 (UPI) -- South Korea and the United States have decided to resume their joint military drills next month, while reassuring North Korea that the exercises will be "defense-oriented."

The South Korean military announced Tuesday that Seoul and Washington's defense ministers agreed to launch the annual Foal Eagle and Key Resolve drills on April 1, after they were postponed to avoid an overlap with the Pyeongchang Winter Games period.

Earlier this year, South Korean President Moon Jae-in asked to hold off the exercises until after the Olympics and Paralympics Games in a bid to defuse tensions with North Korea and convince it to participate in the sporting event.

The North has long called for the scrapping of the drills, deeming them a rehearsal for invasion.

However, ahead of Seoul and Washington's respective summits with North Korea, the two allied forces appeared more mindful of Pyongyang.

Seoul says the United Nations Command notified North Korea's Korean People's Army on the schedule as well as the defensive nature of the annual exercises.

Pentagon spokesman Christopher Logan also said in a statement that are defense-oriented and there is no reason for North Korea to view them as a provocation.

He said the drills were not a response to any specific North Korean provocations or the current situation on the Korean Peninsula.

Some 12,200 U.S. troops and 10,000 South Korean soldiers will take part in the month-long Key Resolve drill, which include command and control exercises based on computer simulations.

The Foal Eagle exercise will kick off on April 23 with about 11,500 U.S. troops and 290,000 South Koreans involved in field training.

While the scale of the drills will be similar to those of previous years, the Foal Eagle drill will be a month shorter compared to last year.

According to Yonhap, South Korean officials denied that the drills will be "low key" this year.

"The purpose of the drills and the size of participating troops will be similar to those in previous years. The program will also be similar," a Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) official told reporters. </s> South Korea and the United States will scale down and shorten annual joint military exercises in light of a diplomatic thaw with Pyongyang, a report said today.

The Key Resolve and Foal Eagle drills held every spring regularly infuriate the nuclear-armed North, which usually condemns them as preparations for invasion and responds with provocations of its own, ratcheting tensions higher.

But the two Koreas and the US are in the throes of an Olympics-led rapprochement, with South Korea announcing plans for a summit between Seoul and Pyongyang next month, and US President Donald Trump said to be meeting the North's leader Kim Jong Un by the end of May.

The joint exercises were delayed to avoid clashing with the Pyeongchang Winter Games in the South last month.

But according to a senior official in Seoul's presidential office, Kim told a visiting South Korean envoy last week that he would "understand" if the drills went ahead.

Citing a military source, the South's Yonhap news agency said Foal Eagle, a field exercise involving tens of thousands of troops, will start in early April but be halved in length from two months to one.

US strategic weapons such as B-1B bombers and aircraft carrier strike groups, which have been often deployed to and near the Korean peninsula in times of high tension, will not take part this time, Yonhap said.

Key Resolve, a command post exercise using computer-based simulations, will kick off in the coming week, Yonhap said.

Earlier, US Lieutenant-General Kenneth McKenzie, director of the joint chiefs of staff, told a briefing that the US conducts a "robust series of exercises" with South Korea every year.

"I don't think this year will be any different than those that have occurred in the past," he added.

A spokesman at the US-South Korea Combined Forces Command said the date, duration and other details of the annual Key Resolve/Foal Eagle exercises will be announced next week.

North Korea has made no official comment on Kim's proposed face-to-face meetings with Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. </s> South Korea and the United States will scale down and shorten annual joint military exercises in light of a diplomatic thaw with Pyongyang, a report said Friday.

The Key Resolve and Foal Eagle drills held every spring regularly infuriate the nuclear-armed North, which usually condemns them as preparations for invasion and responds with provocations of its own, ratcheting tensions higher.

But the two Koreas and the US are in the throes of an Olympics-led rapprochement, with South Korea announcing plans for a summit between Seoul and Pyongyang next month, and US President Donald Trump said to be meeting the North's leader Kim Jong Un by the end of May.

The joint exercises were delayed to avoid clashing with the Pyeongchang Winter Games in the South last month.

But according to a senior official in Seoul's presidential office, Kim told a visiting South Korean envoy last week that he would "understand" if the drills went ahead.

Citing a military source, the South's Yonhap news agency said Foal Eagle, a field exercise involving tens of thousands of troops, will start in early April but be halved in length from two months to one.

US strategic weapons such as B-1B bombers and aircraft carrier strike groups, which have been often deployed to and near the Korean peninsula in times of high tension, will not take part this time, Yonhap said.

Key Resolve, a command post exercise using computer-based simulations, will kick off in the coming week, Yonhap said.

Earlier, US Lieutenant-General Kenneth McKenzie, director of the joint chiefs of staff, told a briefing that the US conducts a "robust series of exercises" with South Korea every year.

"I don't think this year will be any different than those that have occurred in the past," he added.

A spokesman at the US-South Korea Combined Forces Command said the date, duration and other details of the annual Key Resolve/Foal Eagle exercises will be announced next week.

North Korea has made no official comment on Kim's proposed face-to-face meetings with Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
South Korea and the United States announce that the Foal Eagle and Key Resolve military drills will start on April 1 and last for four weeks.