USA TODAY International Edition
U.S., South Korea begin joint military training
Pentagon downplays assets in annual exercise
SEOUL — The United States and South Korea began their joint military training exercises Sunday as diplomatic relations have been thawing on the Korean Peninsula, according to the South Korean defense ministry.
The planned drills, known as Foal Eagle and Key Resolve, take place before the April 27 summit between North and South Korea and ahead of a meeting with President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expected in May.
More than 11,500 U.S. troops and nearly 300,000 South Korean forces will take part in the four-week exercises. Foal Eagle, the largest annual joint military exercise in South Korea, usually runs about two months. Its start was delayed this year at the request of South Korea until after the Winter Olympics.
North Korea has consistently protested the annual joint exercises as a military provocation, even though the U.S. stresses the drills are for defensive purposes. During last year’s joint exercises, North Korea launched several medium-range ballistic missiles that splashed down off the coast of Japan.
This year North Korea promised not to object to the exercises as part of the agreement to meet with Trump.
The Pentagon announced the resumption of Foal Eagle, saying in a statement that the drills would operate “at a scale similar to that of the previous years.”
The U.S. appears to be downplaying its show, with no plans announced for deploying such strategic assets as nuclear submarines or supercarriers. Last year’s drills included a visit by the supercarrier USS Carl Vinson and involved the U.S. Army’s ballistic missile defense system, deployed in the South Korean town of Seongju.
A group of South Korean musicians, including K-pop stars Red Velvet, traveled to Pyongyang this weekend to perform in the North Korean capital.
On Sunday, North Korea’s Kim and his wife, Ri Sol Ju, watched the rare performance, according to South Korean media pool reports from Pyongyang.
The military exercise Foal Eagle will operate “at a scale similar to that of the previous years.”
The Pentagon