한미연합훈련 '동맹' 오늘부터 돌입, 키리졸브와 독수리훈련은 영구 종료
Following the Hanoi summit between the leaders of North Korea and the U.S. last week.... Seoul and Washington kicked off their new *scaled-down joint military exercise today.
Our Park Ji-won reports.
The Dong Maeng exercise, meaning "alliance" in English, begins this Monday,... and will continue for seven weekdays, finishing next Tuesday.
South Korea's Defense Ministry, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and operational commands from the ROK Army, Navy and Air Force,... as well as the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command, U.S. Forces Korea and Indo-Pacific Command will join the computer-simulated exercise.
The new exercise will be much scaled down from the two countries' previous Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises, which were held every spring.
Seoul's Defense Minister, Jeong Kyeong-doo, and acting U.S. Defense Secretary ( ) Patrick Shanahan decided to kickstart this new exercise after talking on the phone over the weekend.
The two defense chiefs said,... the decision to end the annual command-and-control exercise Key Resolve and field training Foal Eagle exercise,... and to come up with this much-reduced Dong Maeng exercise, was a move to back the diplomatic push for denuclearization and lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Instead,.. the two countries emphasized that they will conduct more frequent, smaller-sized field training drills throughout the year,.. to compensate for the cancellation of the Foal Eagle exercise.
Amid ongoing negotiations between Pyeongyang and Washington,... South Korea and the U.S. have canceled or downsized a number of major joint exercises, including Ulchi Freedom Guardian and Vigilant Ace last year.
On Sunday,... South Korea's Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Park Han-ki,.. and Commander of ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command Robert Abrams said in a joint statement that conducting military exercises is very important to maintain combat readiness,... stressing they are indispensable in strengthening the alliance.
South Korea and the U.S. did not reveal the specific number of troops joining this exercise.
Park Ji-won, Arirang News.
