US, S. Korea to resume military drills on April 1 despite thaw with DPRK

The U.S. Department of Defense announced on Monday that the joint exercises Key Resolve and Foal Eagle between the United States and South Korea will restart on April 1 "at a scale similar to that of the previous years."

The United Nations Command has notified Pyongyang on the schedule as well as "the defensive nature of the annual exercises," said the Pentagon in a statement.

U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis and South Korean Minister of National Defense Song Young-moo have agreed to resume the annual war games, which were postponed this year during the Winter Olympic and Paralympic period, according to the statement.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)