South Korea and the United States agreed Saturday to maintain joint defense readiness against possible threats from North Korea in the wake of the unprecedented presidential impeachment the previous day.

A Defense Ministry spokesman said that Defense Minister Cho Young-kil, USFK Commander Leon LaPorte and other military leaders agreed not to raise the military alertness level of the defense readiness condition (Defcon) because no unusual activity had been detected on the part of North Korea.

The two sides also agreed to conduct annual joint military drills as scheduled between March 22 and 27.

On Friday evening, the defense minister presided over an emergency meeting of about 50 top military officers wherein he ordered the South Korean Army to maintain its solid defense posture in the aftermath of the impeachment.