The United States and South Korea have agreed to suspend another major joint military exercise amid ongoing diplomatic negotiations with North Korea.
Over the past months, talks have been under way between Washington and Pyongyang, but the negotiations have achieved little headway
“Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis and Minister of National Defense Jeong Kyeong-doo decided to suspend Exercise Vigilant Ace to give the diplomatic process every opportunity to continue,” Pentagon spokesperson Dana White said in a statement on Friday.
She said that the US and South Korean forces remained in coordination with each other and were committed to maintaining their readiness.
“Both ministers are committed to modifying training exercises to ensure the readiness of our forces. They pledged to maintain close coordination and evaluate future exercises,” White said.
White added Mattis had also spoken with his Japanese counterpart Takeshi Iwaya on the…