Our top story this evening...<br />Despite the sudden end of the Hanoi summit,… South Korea and the U.S. remain commited in facilitating dialogue with North Korea for denuclearization and lasting peace.<br />To that effort,... the two sides announced that their joint annual military exercises will be much reduced in scale moving forward. <br />Our Won Jung-hwan has this report. <br /> <br /> S. Korea-U.S. joint military exercises will be replaced with scaled-down new ones... to back diplomacy for denuclearization and long-lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.<br />According to the two countries' defense authorities on Sunday,… Seoul and Washington have decided to revise their joint annual drills known as Key Resolve and Foal Eagle. <br />The decision was made after a 45-minute telephone conversation the day before,… between Seoul's Defense Minister, Jeong Kyeong-doo, and acting U.S. Defense Secretary ( ) Patrick Shanahan.<br />It's a decision that reflects their will to maintain dialogue with Pyongyang, despite the breakdown in negotiations at the second North Korea-U.S. summit.<br /><br /> Following close coordination,… both sides decided to introduce changes to the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises, which are held every springtime.<br />The command and control Key Resolve exercise could be replaced by a new drill named 'Dong Maeng,' which means alliance in English. <br />The nine-day simulated war games are scheduled to kick off on Monday. <br />The two nations will also downsize Foal Eagle's field drills to battalion-level maneuvers,... and conduct smaller, but more frequent field training throughout the year. <br />Despite the reduction in scale,... the allies pledged to maintain a high level of combat readiness through more missions-specific training programs. <br /><br /> The two sides made it clear... that their decision was in support of diplomatic efforts to achieve complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. <br />Last year,... Seoul and Washington downsized a number of major joint exercises, including Ulchi Freedom Guardian and Vigilant Ace... in the midst of warming ties with North Korea. <br />Won Jung-hwan, Arirang News. <br />
