South Korea and the United States will expand a program that simulates removing weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in this year's joint military drills.

A South Korean government source said Friday that during a joint military exercise with the U.S. in March, dubbed "Key Resolve," the two nations' forces will carry out drill programs on removing North Korean nuclear weapons and WMDs.

The official added that although this exercise first began in 2009, the military will expand the scale of the drill while also improving the details of the program this year.

The source also implied that a larger group of specialized agents from the US will be deployed to South Korea to take part in this year's drills.

The anti-WMD response team comes from a US military unit that specializes in detection and removal of weapons of mass destruction at home and abroad.

The unit conducted the first WMD removal drills together with the WMD response command of the South Korean army in 2010.