Anchor: South Korea and the United States have decided to end their springtime Key Resolve and Foal Eagle combined exercises. U.S. President Donald Trump defended the decision, saying the military drills are expensive and unhelpful for diplomacy with North Korea.
Our Bae Joo-yon has more. 

Report: The Defense Ministry in Seoul said Sunday that Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan spoke over the phone on Saturday and decided to terminate the two joint military drills. It has been eleven and 44 years respectively since the names Key Resolve and Foal Eagle have been used. 

Seoul and Washington apparently made the final decision shortly after the second U.S.-North Korea summit in Hanoi, following a series of consultations between military officials. 

With the latest decision, the allies will replace the Key Resolve command post exercise with a new drill, called “Dong Maeng,” which means “alliance” in English. The new training began on Monday and will run for just seven weekdays, half the duration of Key Resolve.

The massive Foal Eagle field training will be replaced by smaller-scale maneuvers to be conducted throughout the year.

Given that Seoul and Washington had suspended their summertime Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise last year shortly after the first U.S.-North Korea summit in Singapore, the allies have either ended or suspended three key joint military drills. 

The allies’ defense chiefs explained the latest decision reflected their desire to reduce tension and support diplomatic efforts to achieve the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a final and fully verified manner.

A day after the decision was announced, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted the reason he doesn't want military drills with South Korea is to save hundreds of millions of dollars for the U.S. 

The president added this was his position long before he came into office and that reducing tensions with North Korea at this time is a good thing.

Trump made similar remarks in a news conference last Thursday after his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Vietnam ended without an agreement.
Bae Joo-yon, KBS World Radio News.

[Photo : YONHAP News]