South Korea-US to end large-scale war games

South Korea-US to end large-scale war games

The US and South Korea have confirmed they will no longer hold large-scale joint military exercises which have always infuriated North Korea.

The alliance's defence chiefs said the decision supported "diplomatic efforts to achieve complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula".

A number of exercises were suspended last year after US President Donald Trump met North Korea's Kim Jong-un.

North Korea regards the games as preparation for a military invasion.

A Pentagon statement said the defence ministers from the two countries had agreed to end the Foal Eagle and Key Resolve series of exercises in a phone call on Saturday.

What are the US-South Korea war games?

Critics have said cancelling the drills could undermine US and South Korean military defences against the North, but others say those concerns are unjustified.

President Trump has previously complained of the cost of such exercises, although he has ruled out withdrawing US troops from the peninsula - currently numbering about 30,000.

Mr Trump's second summit with Kim Jong-un in Vietnam this week ended abruptly without a deal.-BBC

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