South Korea, U.S. quietly hold joint air exercises amid calls for talks with North Korea

FILE PHOTO: The South Korean and American flags fly next to each other at Yongin, South Korea, August 23, 2016. Courtesy Ken Scar/U.S. Army/Handout via REUTERS

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea and the United States kicked off joint aerial drills on Monday, a military official in Seoul said, amid tensions over North Korea's recent missile tests and calls for a restart of denuclearisation talks.

The exercises, previously called Vigilant Ace, once mobilised tens of thousands of troops and hundreds of cutting-edge fighter jets, bombers and other warplanes.