By ANI

SEOUL: South Korea and the United States on Sunday began their joint military drills as scheduled, according to defence officials, amid a reconciliatory mood on the Korean Peninsula in recent weeks.

As per Yonhap news agency, over 11,500 service members, including those from outside South Korea are planning to participate, along with at least 300,000 South Korean troops in the four-week 'Foal Eagle' training.



The military drills generally begin either in late February or early March for around two months. However, due to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games held last month and earlier this month, it had to be postponed this time.



The duration of Foal Eagle training has been truncated to a month, which no major US strategic assets such as nuclear submarines and supercarriers to show up.



The defence authorities of both countries have underscored that there is no major change in the number of participating soldiers, programme and the 'intensity' of the military exercise.



Both South Korean and American Marines are conducting a massive Ssangyong (double dragon) amphibious landing drill in the Korean Peninsula up till April 8.



The landing drill involves the USS Wasp, the US Navy's 40,500-ton multipurpose amphibious assault ship, carrying F-35B stealth fighter aircraft and the USS Bonhomme Richard, which is another vessel of the same class. These ships are also known as "quasi-aircraft carriers."



Further, on April 23, the joint forces will also commence a two-week Key Resolve command post-war game, where over 12,000 US troops will be mobilised.



Earlier, North Korea had called on to the US and South Korea to suspend their frequent military deals for the sake of initiating a dialogue between the two Korean countries.



Pyongyang added that such bilateral military drills could be a 'source of catastrophe' for the Korean Peninsula.



However, the United Nations Command of the US has informed the North Korean military about the schedule of the drills while saying that it was a part of 'regular training' and not 'defensive' in nature.



The drills are expected to wrap up ahead of the third inter-Korean Summit scheduled to be held on April 27, in the border village of Panmunjom, located along the heavily guarded Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), which acts as the de facto border between the two Koreas.</s>The United States and South Korea kicked off a low-key joint military drill Sunday as a diplomatic thaw over North Korea gathered pace.

Tension on the flashpoint peninsula have showed signs of easing in recent months after the isolated, nuclear-armed North proposed summits with the South and their “imperialist enemy” the US.

The annual Foal Eagle drill – a series of field training exercises involving some 11,500 American and 290,000 South Korean troops – began early Sunday, Seoul’s defence ministry spokesman said.

The drill – which was delayed to avoid clashing with February’s Winter Olympics in the South – will be held for a month in April, about half the time it usually lasts.

This year’s drills feature fewer strategic weapons like a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, Seoul army said earlier. The deployment of such powerful weapons at past drills has frequently drawn an angry response from the North.

The two allies are also set to stage the annual Key Resolve drill – a tabletop exercise using mainly computer-based simulations – for the usual duration of two weeks beginning late April.

Pyongyang, which habitually slams the joint army drills between the South and the US as a rehearsal for invasion, has remained relatively quiet on the issue in recent weeks.

The Foal Eagle drill started the same day as a historic concert by South Korean pop stars in Pyongyang, which will be staged late Sunday as a peace gesture ahead of this month’s inter-Korea summit.

Eleven South Korean acts – including popular K-pop girl band Red Velvet – are set perform in the North Korean capital – the first such concert for more than a decade.

The flurry of reconciliatory moves comes after the Pyeongchang Winter Games, which the North used to mount a charm offensive, sending athletes, cheerleaders and even leader Kim Jong-un’s powerful sister as a delegate.

Kim, who last week met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on his first overseas trip as leader, also met Olympics chief Thomas Bach in Pyongyang on Saturday, thanking him for helping to bring about a “dramatic thawing” of tensions on the peninsula.

Kim is set to hold a summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on April 27 at the border truce village of Panmunjom – the third time ever that any leaders of the two rivals have met.</s>South Korea and the United States kicked off their annual joint military exercises Sunday after they were delayed about a month for the Winter Olympics and to help create conditions for a resumption of talks between North and South Korea.

The Foal Eagle field exercise, which usually involves combined ground, air, naval and special operations troops, will continue for a month. The computer-simulated Key Resolve is scheduled for two weeks starting in mid-April.

A Pentagon spokesman said in March the two joint drills would involve about 23,700 U.S. troops and 300,000 South Korean forces. Military officials in Seoul have said the scale of the exercises would not go beyond those seen in previous years.

The Foal Eagle and Key Resolve exercises are usually held every year around March, but they were postponed this year until after the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and Paralympics, which started in February and ended last month.

North Korea, which has traditionally accused South Korea and the United States of practicing invading the North during the joint military drills, has remained quiet on the issue.

In March, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told a visiting South Korean delegation in Pyongyang that he understands the situation regarding the joint drills, according to South Korea’s National Security Office head Chung Eui-yong, who had led the delegation.

The joint exercises come roughly a month ahead of an April 27 summit between the two Koreas, their first in more than a decade.

Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in are widely expected to discuss denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and improvement of inter-Korean relations at the summit.</s>SEOUL, April 1 (UPI) -- South Korean and the United States began their delayed joint military training on Sunday, mobilizing more than 300,000 troops.

Seoul's defense ministry said the springtime Foal Eagle kicked off with 11,500 U.S. troops and 300,000 South Korean soldiers taking part in the field training exercise, one of the largest military drills conducted annually in the world, SBS reported.

The exercise, which usually takes place late February or early March, was postponed this year to avoid an overlap with the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games held from February to March in South Korea.

President Moon Jae-in had requested the delay, in hopes of defusing tensions with North Korea, which has long seen the games as a rehearsal for war and used them as a pretext for provocations.

With cross-border relations appearing to improve as the two Koreas head to summit talks slated for later this month, observers have said the South Korea-U.S. drills have been notably scaled down this year.

The two-month long Foal Eagle exercise has been reduced to a four-week run with no major U.S. strategic assets such as supercarriers or nuclear submarines expected to be deployed to the peninsula, Yonhap reported.

However, authorities have denied the drill will be low-key compared to previous years, saying there is no change in the number of troops, the program or the intensity of the exercise.

From April 23, the two allies will also begin the computer simulated Key Resolve games for two weeks, involving 12,200 U.S. troops and 10,000 South Korean soldiers.</s>U.S., South Korea kick off annual joint military exercises after month-long delay

South Korea and the United States kicked off their annual joint military exercises on Sunday after they were delayed by about a month for the Winter Olympics and to help create conditions for a resumption of talks between North and South Korea, Reuters reported.

The Foal Eagle field exercise, which usually involves combined ground, air, naval and special operations troops, will continue for a month. The computer-simulated Key Resolve will be held for two weeks starting in mid-April.

A Pentagon spokesman said in March the two joint drills would involve about 23,700 U.S. troops and 300,000 South Korean forces. Military officials in Seoul have said the scale of the exercises would not go beyond those seen in previous years.

The Foal Eagle and Key Resolve exercises are usually held every year around March but they were postponed this year until after the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and Paralympics, which started in February and ended last month.

North Korea, which has traditionally accused both South Korea and the United States of practising invading the North during joint military drills, has remained quiet on the issue.</s>SEOUL: The United States and South Korea kicked off a low-key joint military drill on Sunday as a diplomatic thaw over North Korea gathered pace.

 Also on Sunday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un and his wife attended the first concert in Pyongyang for more than a decade by South Korean performers, Seoul’s Yonhap news agency reported. The agency cited the South’s culture ministry as its source.

 The visit to the North’s capital was the latest gesture of reconciliation before a scheduled summit on April 27.

 Tensions on the flashpoint peninsula have showed signs of easing in recent months after the isolated, nuclear-armed North proposed summits with the South and their “imperialist enemy” the US.

 The annual Foal Eagle drill — a series of field training exercises involving some 11,500 American and 290,000 South Korean troops — began early on Sunday, Seoul’s defence ministry spokesman said.

 The drill — which was delayed to avoid clashing with February’s Winter Olympics in the South — will be held for a month in April, about half the time it usually lasts.

 This year’s drills feature fewer strategic weapons like a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, Seoul army said earlier. The deployment of such powerful weapons at past drills has frequently drawn an angry response from the North.

 The two allies are also set to stage the annual Key Resolve drill — a tabletop exercise using mainly computer-based simulations — for the usual duration of two weeks beginning late in April.

 Pyongyang, which habitually slams the joint army drills between the South and the US as a rehearsal for invasion, has remained relatively quiet on the issue in recent weeks.

 The Foal Eagle drill started the same day as a historic concert by South Korean pop stars in Pyongyang, which was staged late on Sunday as a peace gesture ahead of this month’s inter-Korea summit.

 Eleven South Korean acts — including popular K-pop girlband Red Velvet — were performing in the North Korean capital — the first such concert for more than a decade.

 The flurry of reconciliatory moves comes after the Pyeongchang Winter Games, which the North used to mount a charm offensive, sending athletes, cheerleaders and even leader Kim Jong-Un’s powerful sister as a delegate.

 Kim, who last week met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on his first overseas trip as leader, also met Olympics chief Thomas Bach in Pyongyang on Saturday, thanking him for helping to bring about a “dramatic thawing” of tensions on the peninsula.

 — AFP</s>SEOUL — The U.S. and South Korea commenced scheduled joint military training exercises on Sunday, according to South Korean defense ministry officials. The combined drills, known as Foal Eagle and Key Resolve, take place as diplomatic relations have been thawing on the Korean peninsula, with a summit between the two Koreas scheduled for late April and a meeting between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un anticipated for May.

More than 11,500 U.S. soldiers and nearly 300,000 Korean counterparts will take part in the four-week exercises. Foal Eagle, the largest annual joint military exercise in Korea, usually runs for about two months, but its start was delayed this year at the request of South Korea until the Olympics and Paralympics Games in Pyeongchang were completed.

North Korea has consistently protested the annual combined exercises as a military provocation, but the U.S. stressed that the drills are purely for defensive purposes.

A statement from the Pentagon announcing the resumption of Foal Eagle, read: “The United Nations Command has notified the Korean People's Army on the schedule as well as the defensive nature of the annual exercises.”

The statement also noted that the drills would operate “at a scale similar to that of the previous years.”

However, the U.S. appears to be downplaying its show of military might this year, as no plans for deploying strategic assets such as nuclear subs or supercarriers have been announced. Last year’s drills included a visit from the supercarrier USS Carl Vinson and involved the U.S. Army’s contentious Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) ballistic missile defense system, deployed in the South Korean town of Seongju.

The USS Wasp, an 843-foot long amphibious assault ship, is expected to join the exercises, Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported.

North Korea has a long history of provocative behavior during joint military exercise. During Foal Eagle last year, the hermit nation launched several medium-range ballistic missiles that splashed down off the coast of Japan.

Inter-Korean diplomatic relations are currently at the highest level they’ve been in years, on a roll since January, when the two Koreas met ahead of the Olympic Games. North Korea sent a large delegation to the Winter Games in February, and the two sides agreed earlier this week for their third-ever summit meetingto be held on April 27 at the truce village of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone that divides the peninsula.

Continuing the policy of engagement, a group of South Korean musicians, including K-pop stars Red Velvet, traveled to Pyongyang this weekend for live performances in the North Korean capital.

North Korean dictator Kim has also begun taking more of a role on the international stage, making his first visit abroad as leader last week, when he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. He also met with International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach in Pyongyang on Friday, after which Bach said that North Korea was committed to participating in the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Summer Games and 2022 Beijing Winter Games.

A report from Chinese state media this week claimed that Kim said he was “committed to denuclearization” on the Korean peninsula. A South Korean envoy also said earlier this month that Kim had expressed a willingness to talk to the United States about denuclearization.

However, Japanese defense minister Taro Kono warned at a lecture on Saturday that North Korea appeared to be preparing for another nuclear test, citing satellite images showing removal of soil from a tunnel where previous tests were held.</s>The defense forces of South Korea and the United States on Sunday started their annual joint exercises, after having postponed them and reduced their duration this year due to the current rapprochement with North Korea, the Seoul defense ministry announced.

Around 11,500 US troops and some 300,000 South Korean soldiers are set to participate in the first of the two drills, Foal Eagle, which will continue for four weeks, one month less than its normal duration.</s>More than 11,500 service members, including thousands based outside of Korea, plan to participate in the four-week Foal Eagle training, along with around 300,000 South Korean soldiers.

The allies often kick off their largest annual military exercise in late February or early March for a two-month run. This year, however, they waited until the end of the PyeongChang Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The Foal Eagle field exercise, which usually involves combined ground, air, naval and special operations troops, will continue for a month. The computer-simulated Key Resolve is scheduled for two weeks starting in mid-April, added Yonhap.</s>The US and South Korea began joint war games on Sunday, involving naval, ground, air and special operations forces. The drills, originally set for March, will see 11,500 US and 300,000 South Korean servicemen taking part.

The annual joint exercises, which have taken place since 1997, ran for two months in 2017 but have been reduced to just one month this year, Yonhap reported. Foal Eagle drills will be followed by a two weeks of Key Resolve exercises, which are command-post training based on computer simulation. The latter is expected to start in mid-April, which means they are going to overlap with a historic summit between North Korea’s leader Kim Jon-un and South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in on April 27.

The date for the first meeting between the leaders of the two countries in more than 10 years was set on Thursday. The Key Resolve will run from April 23 to May 3, and will see some 12,000 US troops participating.

The drills were initially scheduled to be launched in late February or early March but were postponed because of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which concluded on March 18 and marked the beginning of a thaw in relations between the two Koreas.

One of the highlights of this year’s Foal Eagle maneuvers will be the involvement of the USS ‘Wasp’ amphibious-assault ship, which has recently been spotted operating off the coast of Okinawa. The Japanese island plays a strategic role for US deployment in the region and hosts some 26,000 US troops.

The warship will be carrying fifth-generation F-35B stealth fighter jets. The US Navy, which has not commented on the potential involvement of the 844ft-long “quasi” aircraft carrier in the drills, recently announced a first successful landing of an F-35B on the USS ‘Wasp’ in the Pacific, describing it as “one of the most significant leaps in warfighting capability for the Navy-Marine Corps team in our lifetime.”

READ MORE: North & South Korea set April 27 as date for leaders’ summit in breakthrough move

USS ‘Bonhomme Richard,’ another Wasp-class amphibious-assault ship, will also participate in the maneuvers, Yonhap reported. An amphibious landing exercise codenamed SsangYong, or “Double Dragon,” will be held through April 8.

Over 11,500 US troops will feature in the war games, including those mobilized from outside of the country. Some 23,500 US forces are stationed in South Korea on a permanent basis. The number of troops involved in this year’s games will be the same as previous years, with no major military show-off expected to take place. Neither massive US aircraft carriers, nor nuclear submarines will join the drills, according to Yonhap. Announcing the resumption of the drills in March, South Korea’s Defense Ministry stated they would be carried out “on a similar size as previous years.”

The relatively low-key exercises will finish just ahead of the widely anticipated talks between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jon-un. While the date for the much-hyped meeting has not yet been set, it is expected to take place by May.

Pyongyang has repeatedly denounced US-South Korean joint maneuvers on its doorstep as a provocation and a rehearsal for invasion. The US military, however, insists that the planned exercises are “defense-oriented” and that “there is no reason for North Korea to view them as provocation.”

North Korea was notified of the drills in advance through the United Nations Command, the Pentagon said at the time.
The governments of the United States and South Korea begin their Foal Eagle and Key Resolve military drills.