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| / Korea Times file photo |
South Korea and the United States will kick off their large-scale combined military exercises April 1 that have been delayed amid an Olympics-driven peace mood, the defense authorities here announced Tuesday.
But it stopped short of revealing when they will finish and how many troops will be mobilized.
The defense chiefs of the allies have agreed to hold the annual Key Resolve and Foal Eagle drills that have been postponed on the basis of the Olympics spirit, the Ministry of National Defense said.
"The practice is slated to begin April 1, and it will be conducted on a similar size in previous years," it added without providing details on the timetable in a three-paragraph press release.
The United Nations Command (UNC) informed North Korea's military of the schedule and the allies' position that it's nothing more than regular training that's defensive in nature, according to the ministry.
The Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission plans to observe the drills to confirm whether they are staged in compliance with the Armistice Agreement that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.
The allies used to open the Foal Eagle/Key Resolve exercises in late February or early March usually for a two-month run.
For this year's practice, South Korea asked the U.S. to reschedule them to avoid provoking the North before and during the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. (Yonhap)
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