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U.S. to scale back major joint military exercise in bid to keep North Korean nuclear diplomacy on track

South Korean and U.S. soldiers sit inside an amphibious vehicle as they pose for photographers during an annual joint military landing exercise in Pohang, on South Korea's southeast coast, in 2016. The United States and South Korea have scaled down a joint military exercise scheduled for spring to facilitate nuclear talks with North Korea, | AFP-JIJI

By Jesse Johnson
Staff Writer

Nov 22, 2018

In a bid to keep Washington's ongoing denuclearization talks with North Korea from faltering, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Wednesday that a major joint military exercise with South Korea would be scaled back.

"We have taken a decision," Mattis said, according to a transcript of his conversation with reporters. "We are not canceling exercises. We are realigning one exercise."

Asked if it was the Foal Eagle exercise, a large-scale drill typically held in the spring, Mattis confirmed this was the case.

U.S. to scale back major joint military exercise in bid to keep North Korean nuclear diplomacy on track

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