MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th March, 2021) South Korea and the United States will hold the regular springtime combined military exercise this coming week but reduce the participation and some formats due to COVID-19, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said on Sunday.
"South Korea and the US decided to conduct the springtime combined exercise from March 8 for nine days, after comprehensively taking into consideration the COVID-19 situation, the maintenance of the combat readiness posture, the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the establishment of peace," the JCS said in a statement, as quoted by South Korean news agency Yonhap.
The physical participation of troops and equipment will be "minimized," according to the military.
The main focus of the exercise will be to train the combined readiness posture. Some of its components will include a computer-simulated command post exercise and a "rehearsal for theater operations under the envisioned future Combined Forces Command."
Because of the coronavirus-related travel limitations on US troops and equipment, the upcoming drills will not include a Full Operational Capability test, which is something that South Korea had asked for but reportedly met the United States' opposition this time. Seoul is eager to have the Full Operational Capability in a bid to fulfill the eligibility criteria for retaking the wartime operational control of its forces from Washington before the end of term of the current administration in May 2022, according to the report.
South Korea and the United States normally hold two large-scale joint drills per year, in the spring and in the summer.
