US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Wednesday that a joint military exercise with South Korea called “Foal Eagle” would be reduced in scope next year so it does not harm diplomatic efforts with North Korea.
“Foal Eagle is being reorganized a bit to keep it at a level that will not be harmful to diplomacy,” Mattis told reporters.
The Foal Eagle field exercise, which usually involves thousands of combined ground, air, naval and special operations troops, takes place every spring.
Mattis did not provide details on what a scaled back version of the exercise would entail.
At an unprecedented summit in June, US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed to work toward denuclearization and peace on the Korean peninsula, and establish new relations.
Since then, the United States and South Korea have suspended a number of military exercises to encourage talks with North Korea.
But negotiations have since made little headway, with Pyongyang upset by Washington’s insistence that international sanctions must remain until North Korea gives up its nuclear weapons.
Trump caught many US officials off guard earlier this year when he announced after his summit with Kim that the United States was suspending the summer’s joint military drills with South Korea, known as Ulchi Freedom Guardian.
The new commander of US forces in South Korea, General Robert Abrams, said in September the decision to suspend some joint exercises was a “prudent risk” but had caused a “slight degradation” in military readiness.
On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States has told its ally South Korea it should not improve ties with North Korea faster than Pyongyang takes steps to give up its nuclear weapons.
Last month, in a rare sign of discord between Seoul and Washington, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said Pompeo had expressed “discontent” at an inter-Korean military pact reached during a summit in September.