Washington's acting defense chief has hailed the recently-concluded Dong Maeng joint military exercise between South Korea and the U.S., as a big success,... adding lessons were learned that could be applied in drills set for September.<br />Patrick Shanahan made the remarks after his meeting on Monday with visiting South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo at the Pentagon.<br />He dismissed concerns that scaling back the drills... from the previous Key Resolve exercise... has hurt the allies' defense posture.<br />Jeong also said the drill was successful... adding it was an opportunity to test the eventual transfer of wartime operational control from the U.S. to South Korea. <br /><br />
