Washington and Seoul suspended the air exercise ‘to give the diplomatic process every opportunity to continue.’
A joint military exercise by the United States and South Korea, known as Vigilance Ace, has been suspended to continue the diplomatic progress that has been made with North Korea.
Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in a statement Friday that Washington and Seoul agreed to suspend the air exercises “to give the diplomatic process every opportunity to continue.”
The decision to suspend the exercises was made during meetings in Singapore between Defense Secretary James Mattis and Asian Defense ministers, including South Korean Minister of National Defense Jeong Kyeong-doo.
Mattis and White said their counterparts in South Korea are “committed to modifying training exercises to ensure the readiness of our forces,” according to The Associated Press.
“Both ministers are committed to modifying training exercises to ensure the readiness of our forces,” White said.
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“They pledged to maintain close coordination and evaluate future exercises.”
Mattis also consulted Japan’s Minister of Defense Takeshi Iwaya on the matter, who “reaffirmed their commitment to regional security.
