The Defense Ministry said nothing has been decided on joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises for the second half of the year. 

The ministry’s spokesperson, Boo Seung-chan, made the remark when asked to comment on the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un virtually asking for the drills to be cancelled. 

In a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency earlier on Sunday, Kim Yo-Jong said North Korea will closely watch whether South Korea will carry out the hostile war exercise or make a bold decision.

Boo said the ministry has nothing to say about Kim's remarks, stressing that details on the drills for the second half are matters to be decided by South Korean and U.S. officials. 

Boo said Seoul and Washington are currently holding extensive talks. The two sides are taking into account various factors, including the worsening COVID-19 pandemic, maintenance of combined defense readiness, conditions for the transfer of wartime operational control and support toward diplomatic efforts to establish permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula. 

South Korean and U.S. military authorities are said to be discussing ways to hold the Crisis Management Staff Training, a prelude to the main joint drills, next Tuesday through Friday, and the main exercises for ten days from August 16.