TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
US, S. Korea mull scaling back military exercise due to coronavirus
Change Size
This handout taken and released by the South Korean Defence Ministry in Seoul on December 6, 2017 shows a US Air Force B-1B Lancer bomber (L), two US F-35A and two US F-35B stealth jets (far) flying over South Korea with South Korea's two F-16 (R) and two F-15K (L top) fighter jets during a joint military drill. The five-day Vigilant Ace drill -- involving some 230 aircraft including F-22 Raptor stealth jet fighters -- began on December 4, five days after North Korea test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile believed to be capable of hitting the US mainland in a new challenge to US President Donald Trump.
(AFP/ South Korean Defence Ministry )
T
he United States and South Korea said Monday they were considering scaling back a military exercise planned for this spring because of the coronavirus epidemic.
The commander of US forces in South Korea, General Robert Abrams, and the head of that country's joint chiefs of staff, General Park Han-ki, "are looking at scaling back the command post training due to concerns about the coronavirus," US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said at a news conference.
His South Korean counterpart, Jeong Kyeong-doo, said at the same briefing that 13 servicemen from his country have become infected with the virus and that all leave for the military has been cancelled nationwide so as to limit soldiers' movements.
"The situation is quite serious," Jeong said.
The two countries have significantly scaled back traditional joint military exercises so as to facilitate US nuclear talks with North Korea.
This spring they planned to hold a command coordination exercise.
