Ministry dismisses speculation about possible scaling - back of drills with U . S . SEOUL , May 21 ( Yonhap ) -- South Korea ' s defense ministry on Monday dismissed growing speculation that Seoul and Washington could scale back their regular summertime military exercise to avoid provoking North Korea . Last week , Pyongyang abruptly suspended high - level inter - Korean talks , taking issue with the ongoing Max Thunder air drills between Seoul and Washington , which it slammed as a " rehearsal for invasion . " " There is no change in our stance regarding the combined exercise that is annual and defensive in nature , " Choi Hyun - soo , the ministry ' s spokeswoman , said during a regular press briefing . " At this point in time , we plan to keep the level of the exercise as it has been . " The spokeswoman was referring to the Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise slated to begin in August . Amid the growing mood of peace and the communist state ' s strong aversion to the allied drills , some observers have raised the possibility of a reduction in its scale . The public appears split over the drills . Conservatives here have maintained that combined drills must not be up for negotiations , as they form an integral part of the decades - long Seoul - Washington alliance . But others say that their size and frequency can be readjusted to give impetus to the ongoing peace efforts . This photo taken on Dec . 26 , 2017 , shows Choi Hyun - soo , the spokeswoman of South Korea ' s defense ministry , speaking during a press briefing at the ministry building in Seoul . ( Yonhap ) sshluck @ yna . co . kr ( END )