South Korean and U.S. fighter jets participating in the Vigilant Ace military exercise on December 6th, 2017 <Photo: Yonhap News>
South Korea and the U.S. have agreed to scrap another major military exercise to facilitate talks over North Korea's denuclearization.
Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said Friday that Seoul and Washington decided to suspend the air exercise Vigilant Ace "to give the diplomatic process every opportunity to continue."
The announcement followed a meeting earlier in the day between South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in Singapore.
White says Jeong and Mattis are "committed to modifying training exercises to ensure the readiness of our forces."
She adds that "they pledged to maintain close coordination and evaluate future exercises."
Vigilant Ace was slated for December and is the latest joint exercise to be canceled to encourage the North's nuclear disarmament.■
Please send comments to tbsefmnews@gmail.com / copyright © tbs. Unauthorized redistribution prohibited.
