South Korea and the U.S. will not conduct an annual joint military exercise that was previously scheduled to take place at the end of the year.
The allies have been keeping their military drills low key since June, in a bid to ensure dialogue with North Korea remains on track as the regime has sharply criticized the drills in the past.
Park Hee-jun reports. The Pentagon has revealed that South Korea and the U.S. have agreed to suspend their joint air defense exercise "Vigilant Ace"-- that had been slated for December.
According to a statement by spokesperson Dana White on Friday,... the decision was reached by South Korea's Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and his U.S. counterpart James Mattis to give the ongoing diplomatic process with North Korea "every opportunity to continue."
The Pentagon also said Jeong and Mattis are committed to modifying exercises to maintain the readiness of the South Korea-U.S. alliance,... and they will "maintain close coordination and evaluate" future exercises.

'Vigilant Ace' is a large-scale annual air exercise that involves more than 200 aircraft from South Korea and the U.S.
Last year's drill was the largest-ever joint air exercise conducted by the two countries,... with 270 aircraft and some twelve-thousand troops taking part.
Included were F-22 and F-35A stealth fighter jets,... an addition which was strongly condemned by North Korea as provocative.

After the historic summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump in June,... Trump said certain joint military drills with South Korea would be suspended.
The largest,... the 'Ulchi Freedom Guardian' exercise, was cancelled in August.
Seoul and Washington's decision to call off 'Vigilant Ace' this year, is seen as an attempt to build stronger trust with Pyeongyang,... particularly ahead of the second Kim-Trump summit.
Park Hee-jun, Arirang News.