South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo held a closed-door meeting with U.S. Forces Korea(USFK) commander Gen. Robert Abrams, where the allies' joint military exercise is believed to have topped the agenda.

According to multiple government sources on Wednesday, Jeong and Abrams met at the ministry the previous day.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Seoul and Washington have yet to decide whether to proceed with a planned exercise next month, downsize it or call it off altogether.

Should the allies reduce the scale of their training or cancel it, they would have to reconsider preparations for Washington's planned transfer of wartime operational control to Seoul by 2022.

After completing an initial operational capability(IOC) test last August, the allies were expected to carry out the second-stage full operational capability(FOC) test this summer.