South Korea and the United States have decided to end their springtime Key Resolve and Foal Eagle combined exercises to back diplomacy for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the allies' defense authorities said Sunday.

In telephone talks Saturday, Seoul's Defense Minister, Jeong Kyeong-doo, and acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan made the decision that reflects their resolve to keep alive dialogue with Pyongyang despite the breakup of last week's summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

This image depicts South Korea-U.S. combined exercises. (Yonhap)

Though the exercises will end, the allies will maintain a firm military readiness "through newly designed command post exercises and revised field training programs," Seoul's defense ministry and Pentagon said in a joint press statement. Pyongyang has criticized the annual exercises as rehearsals for invasion.

"Following close coordination, both sides decided to conclude the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle series of exercises," they said.

"The minister and secretary made clear that the alliance decision to adapt our training program reflected our desire to reduce tension and support our diplomatic efforts to achieve complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a final, fully verified manner," they added.

The decision was based on recommendations by Gen. Park Han-ki, the chairman of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Gen. Robert Abrams, the commander of the U.S. Forces Korea.

The allies are expected to replace the Key Resolve command post exercise with a renamed one and change the Foal Eagle field training to downsized drills, likely battalion-level maneuvers.

The defense chiefs also affirmed their continued support for their armed forces, the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command and the U.S.-led U.N. Command for peace and security in the region.

On Thursday, Trump and Kim abruptly ended their two-day summit in Hanoi without a deal as they failed to compromise over the scope of Washington's sanctions relief and of Pyongyang's denuclearization. But they indicated they will keep the door open for talks.

The Key Resolve exercise refers to computer-simulated war games based on the allies' contingency plans against North Korean aggression. It involves staff and troops from South Korea's defense ministry and military, and those from the U.S. Forces Korea and the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

The exercise originated from the RSOI (reception, staging, onward Movement, integration) exercise, which was renamed the Key Resolve in 2008 due to the need to reorganize the exercise in line with a 2007 deal between the allies on the transfer of wartime operational control.

The RSOI was first staged in 1994 after the allies' Team Spirit exercise was suspended amid diplomacy with Pyongyang.

The Foal Eagle field training was first launched in 1961. Since 2002, it was timed to coincide with the RSOI to enhance the efficiency of the combined drills. After the renaming of the RSOI in 2008, it proceeded together with the Key Resolve.

In recent months, the allies' military authorities have repeatedly said that they are committed to facilitating ongoing diplomacy to denuclearize the North and foster a lasting peace regime on the divided peninsula.

Last year, Seoul and Washington suspended a set of major exercises, including the summertime Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) exercise and wintertime Vigilant Ace air exercise, though they continued smaller-scale drills to maintain combat readiness. (Yonhap)

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