End of US and South Korean military drills
Both the US and South Korea have confirmed the end of continuous large-scale military exercises after US talks with North Korea. These diplomatic efforts are part to"achieve complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” the alliance’s defense chiefs said.
A number of exercises had already been suspended last year after US President Donald Trump met with North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un, who regards the “war games” as provocation and indication for a military invasion.
The US and South Korea agreed to end the exercises such as the Foal Eagle and Key Resolve series of military drills in a phone call made Saturday. Trump had critized the cost of such exercises involving around 30,000 US troops. Others have warned about ending the drills, that might cause an undermining of South Korean military defence against the North.
In the most recent meeting Trump had walked out of the meeting with Kim Jong-Un as the North Korean leader asked for the lift of economic sanctions in exchange for disabling the main nuclear complex at Yongbyon.