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. 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. 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. 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.