The defense chiefs of South Korea and the U.S. have reaffirmed their commitment to closely coordinate to support last year's inter-Korean military accord aimed at reducing border tensions and building trust.

South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and acting U.S. Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan held talks on Monday at the Pentagon in Washington.

South Korea's Defense Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that during the talks, the two officials assessed the inter-Korean military agreement and reaffirmed their commitment to support the deal. 

The defense chiefs of the two Koreas signed the deal at the close of the third summit between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang last September.

The ministry said Jeong and Shanahan also agreed to expedite the fulfillment of conditions needed for Washington's envisioned transfer of wartime operational control(OPCON) to Seoul.

During the talks, Robert Abrams, the commander of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command, gave the defense chiefs an evaluation of the allies' revised Dong Maeng exercise, saying that they have strengthened their combined readiness and contributed to the groundwork for the OPCON transfer.