한미연합훈련 '동맹' 오늘부터 돌입, 키리졸브와 독수리훈련은 영구 종료<br /><br />Following the Hanoi summit between the leaders of North Korea and the U.S. last week.... Seoul and Washington kicked off their new *scaled-down joint military exercise today.<br />Our Park Ji-won reports.<br /> The Dong Maeng exercise, meaning "alliance" in English, begins this Monday,... and will continue for seven weekdays, finishing next Tuesday. <br />South Korea's Defense Ministry, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and operational commands from the ROK Army, Navy and Air Force,... as well as the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command, U.S. Forces Korea and Indo-Pacific Command will join the computer-simulated exercise. <br />The new exercise will be much scaled down from the two countries' previous Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises, which were held every spring.<br />Seoul's Defense Minister, Jeong Kyeong-doo, and acting U.S. Defense Secretary ( ) Patrick Shanahan decided to kickstart this new exercise after talking on the phone over the weekend.<br />The two defense chiefs said,... the decision to end the annual command-and-control exercise Key Resolve and field training Foal Eagle exercise,... and to come up with this much-reduced Dong Maeng exercise, was a move to back the diplomatic push for denuclearization and lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.<br />Instead,.. the two countries emphasized that they will conduct more frequent, smaller-sized field training drills throughout the year,.. to compensate for the cancellation of the Foal Eagle exercise.<br />Amid ongoing negotiations between Pyeongyang and Washington,... South Korea and the U.S. have canceled or downsized a number of major joint exercises, including Ulchi Freedom Guardian and Vigilant Ace last year.<br />On Sunday,... South Korea's Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Park Han-ki,.. and Commander of ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command Robert Abrams said in a joint statement that conducting military exercises is very important to maintain combat readiness,... stressing they are indispensable in strengthening the alliance.<br />South Korea and the U.S. did not reveal the specific number of troops joining this exercise.<br />Park Ji-won, Arirang News.
