SEOUL, March 7 (dpa): The armed forces of the United States and South Korea plan to organise a summer manoeuvre on a reduced scale due to the coronavirus pandemic, South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff (JCS) said on Sunday.
The joint exercise is set to begin on Monday and last nine days, a statement by the JCS said.
Washington and Seoul decided to hold the drills "after comprehensively taking into consideration the COVID-19 situation, the maintenance of the combat readiness posture, the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the establishment of peace," the statement said according to news agency Yonhap.
The computer-simulated exercise will not include outdoor manoeuvres, which have been carried out throughout the year, and troops and equipment involved will be "minimized" due to the pandemic, it added.
The exercise is set to focus mainly on ensuring troops' readiness posture.
The US has 28,500 soldiers stationed in South Korea to deter North Korea.
Pyongyang has previously slammed similar manoeuvres as being part of plans to invade North Korea. Both the US and South Korea deny that is the case.
Washington and Seoul have cancelled or scaled back a number of joint military exercises since 2018 in order to help facilitate talks with North Korea about its nuclear weapons programme.
The exercise should serve as a trial run for the future command structure. This involves the planned transfer of command over the joint troops from the US to South Korea in the event of war.
The handover has been postponed repeatedly in the past due to tensions with North Korea. - dpa
The joint exercise is set to begin on Monday and last nine days, a statement by the JCS said.
Washington and Seoul decided to hold the drills "after comprehensively taking into consideration the COVID-19 situation, the maintenance of the combat readiness posture, the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the establishment of peace," the statement said according to news agency Yonhap.
The computer-simulated exercise will not include outdoor manoeuvres, which have been carried out throughout the year, and troops and equipment involved will be "minimized" due to the pandemic, it added.
The exercise is set to focus mainly on ensuring troops' readiness posture.
The US has 28,500 soldiers stationed in South Korea to deter North Korea.
Pyongyang has previously slammed similar manoeuvres as being part of plans to invade North Korea. Both the US and South Korea deny that is the case.
Washington and Seoul have cancelled or scaled back a number of joint military exercises since 2018 in order to help facilitate talks with North Korea about its nuclear weapons programme.
The exercise should serve as a trial run for the future command structure. This involves the planned transfer of command over the joint troops from the US to South Korea in the event of war.
The handover has been postponed repeatedly in the past due to tensions with North Korea. - dpa
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