South Korea and the United States will resume joint military exercises next month after a month’s delay to ensure peace during the Winter Olympics and Paralympics held in the southern part of the Korean peninsula, according to Seoul’s defense ministry on Tuesday.

The world’s attention is now shifted towards how Pyongyang would respond to the commencement of the Seoul-Washington joint military drills amid the new detente created on the Korean peninsula, which is still divided by the heavily fortified militarized zone, after the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un offered to hold meetings with the South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump.

South Korea’s Ministry of Defense announced Tuesday that it has agreed with the U.S. defense ministry to resume the two countries’ annual joint military exercises on April 1. The drills, including the computer-simulated Key Resolve and Foal Eagle field exercises, will be of similar scale to those of previous years, but the timeframe for each drill is cut short due to a month’s delay during the PyeongChang Olympics and Paralympics. Paralympics concluded on Sunday.

Foal Eagle, a field training exercise (FTX) that normally takes place for two months from March to April every year, will last for a month this year, while Key Resolve, a computer-simulated command post exercise (CPX), will be held for two weeks from April 23.

South Korean President Moon and U.S. President Trump in January agreed to postpone the routine joint military drills between the two countries during the Winter Olympics and Paralympics to reduce tensions on the Korean peninsula. North Korea considers the joint exercises as war preparation moves against it and has ratcheted up hostile rhetoric against Seoul and Washington during the routine joint drills. It also takes them as an excuse to develop long-range missiles and nuclear arms as deterrence means.

But since North Korean leader Kim earlier this year expressed his secluded country’s willingness to participate in the Winter Olympics and Paralympics in South Korea and Seoul and Washington agreed to delay their joint exercises not to provoke Pyongyang, the reconciliation mood has been created rapidly on the Korean peninsula. Now the two Koreas are preparing their third inter-Korean summit with an aim to hold it in late April, and the U.S. and the North are also seeking to hold their first ever summit by May.

The resumption of the Seoul-Washington joint drill, however, has stoked concerns that the North may not carry out its pledges although the special Korean envoy who met North Korean leader Kim earlier this month quoted Kim saying that he “understands that the routine joint military exercises between the Republic of Korea and the U.S. must continue.” So far Pyongyang has remained mute to the latest joint drill announcement.

The United Nations Command on Tuesday notified the North Korean military of the schedule for the drills and the defensive nature of the regular exercises, the South Korean ministry said. As in accordance with the previous practices, the Neutral National Supervisory Commission will observe the drills to confirm they comply with the armistice agreement, it said.

By Kang Gye-man and Lee Eun-joo

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