The US and South Korea have ended their annual large-scale joint military exercises in a move to support diplomacy aimed at dismantling North Korea’s nuclear programme.
The decision announced by both countries on Sunday comes after US president Donald Trump’s second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ended without an agreement. Both sides blamed each other for the failed high-stakes meeting but left the door open for further diplomacy.
The cancellation of the major spring drills is an olive branch to North Korea, which has been irritated by the exercises it sees as a rehearsal for invasion. Defence chiefs from the US and South Korea said the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises would be replaced by smaller-scale joint exercises called “Dongmaeng”, which means “alliance” in English.