Seoul's military authorities released the schedules of the annual joint military drills
with Washington on Tuesday,... stressing that this year's drills won't be smaller... despite
their shorter duration.
But, it appears the authorities separated a couple of key exercises from the annual
drills... to shorten the total period.
Oh Jung-hee reports.
On Tuesday, South Korea's military authorities released the schedules of the upcoming Seoul-Washington
joint military drills.
( 1)Key Resolve, a computerized simulation exercise, will be held for two weeks starting
mid-April...
( 2)and Foal Eagle,... for four weeks starting April 1st.
In the case of Foal Eagle, the duration this year is half that of last year's.
But despite that, Seoul's defense ministry had stressed... the drills will be at a similar
level to those of previous years.
"The exercises will begin on April 1st and be at a similar level to previous years."
But on Wednesday,... it was reported... that this year's Foal Eagle **excluded a couple
of key drills... that were previously included.
One of them is Freedom Banner, a Navy and Marine Corps logistical deployment exercise.
The exercise is to be held as normal in May.
But for this year, the drill has been separated from Foal Eagle -- unlike the past few years
where it was conducted as part of the Foal Eagle drills.
"The training is to be conducted solely by the U.S. side, so it is not appropriate for
us to answer that question.
But South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff says this year's Foal Eagle does not include Freedom
Banner."
A similar case is Max Thunder,... an annual air exercise conducted by Seoul and Washington,...
that's held for two weeks in mid-May.
It's been regarded as part of the annual joint drills for the past two years,... but for
this year, it has also been separated.
The South Korean military answered...
"It'd be problematic if we didn't hold the drills.
But we are conducting the drills, and we believe we could be flexible on a few things."
If the exercises -- Freedom Banner and Max Thunder -- were included in this year's annual
drills,... then the Foal Eagle would've lasted for almost two months.
But Seoul's military authorities chose not to name them as part of Seoul-Washington joint
military drills... which, many say, is not to cause friction in the run-up to inter-Korean
talks and Washington-Pyongyang talks in the next two months.
Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News.
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