South Korea and the U.S. will not conduct an annual joint military exercise that was previously scheduled to take place at the end of the year.<br />It was cancelled to keep the dialogue going with North Korea as the regime has criticized the drills in the past.<br />Park Hee-jun reports. The Pentagon has revealed that South Korea and the U.S. have agreed to suspend their joint air defense exercise "Vigilant Ace"-- that had been slated for December.<br />According to a statement by spokesperson Dana White on Friday,... the decision was reached by South Korea's Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and his U.S. counterpart James Mattis to give the ongoing diplomatic process with North Korea "every opportunity to continue."<br />The Pentagon also said Jeong and Mattis are committed to modifying exercises to maintain the readiness of the South Korea-U.S. alliance,... and they will "maintain close coordination and evaluate" future exercises.<br /><br />'Vigilant Ace' is a large-scale annual air exercise that involves more than 200 aircraft from South Korea and the U.S.<br />Last year's drill was the largest-ever joint air exercise conducted by the two countries,... with 270 aircraft and some twelve-thousand troops taking part.<br />Included were F-22 and F-35A stealth fighter jets,... an addition which was strongly condemned by North Korea as provocative.<br /><br />After the historic summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump in June,... Trump said certain joint military drills with South Korea would be suspended.<br />The largest,... the 'Ulchi Freedom Guardian' exercise, was cancelled in August.<br />Seoul and Washington's decision to call off 'Vigilant Ace' this year, is seen as an attempt to build stronger trust with Pyeongyang,... particularly ahead of the second Kim-Trump summit.<br />Park Hee-jun, Arirang News. <br />
