Key Resolve Delay

[Anchor Lead]

It's been reported that South Korea and the US have agreed to delay their annual Key Resolve exercise held every March to after the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. But the Korean military says nothing is decided yet.

[Pkg]

The South Korean and United States militaries have held the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle joint exercises around March every year. The drills train troops for the contingency situation where U.S. reinforcements are swiftly deployed to the Korean Peninsula. However this year, it's known that Seoul and Washington have agreed to push back the exercise for about a month to late April. This is in order to avoid Korea's hosting of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics and the Paralympic Games held in February and March.

[Soundbite] Rep. Kim Hack-yong (Liberty Korea Party) : "As far as I know, the joint exercise is set to take place from April 18 to May 3. Why is the agreed timetable not being disclosed?"

Defense Minister Song Young-moo has for now denied the report.

[Soundbite] Song Young-moo (Minister of Defense (Dec. 13)) : "I didn't hear of it. I have no recollection."

The Joint Chiefs of Staff also said there's nothing yet decided regarding the schedule of the joint exercise.

[Soundbite] Noh Jae-cheon (Joint Chiefs of Staff) : "It's not appropriate to talk about military issues such as the undetermined schedule of the joint exercise."

The JCS did not confirm whether there has been discussions with the U.S. on delaying the date, but said there will be talks if they're needed.