S. KOREA-U.S JOINT DRILLS POSTPONED

[Anchor Lead]

South Korea and the United States decided to indefinitely postpone their springtime joint military exercises scheduled next month over the spread of the coronavirus. It's the first time combined drills have been pushed back due to a contagious disease.

[Pkg]

​​Military authorities in South Korea and the US have officially announced a postponement in their joint command post training that was scheduled for early March. The two sides said the decision comes as the Korean government raised its COVID-19 crisis alert to the highest "serious" level. It marks the first time a scheduled combined exercise was delayed relating to concerns of an infectious disease. Also to note is that it's an indefinite postponement.

[Soundbite] KIM JUN-RAK(JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF SPOKESPERSON) : "The previously scheduled command post training by the Combined Forces Command for the year's first half will be postponed until further notice."

The two sides also said that South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Park Han-ki first made the proposal on adjusting the schedule, and commander Robert Abrams of the Combined Forces Command agreed to the deferment. COVID-19 cases within the South Korean military continues to rise, standing at 25 now and the first infection has emerged among US Forces Korea service members. Such developments appear to have affected the latest decision.

[Soundbite] LEE PETERS(COMBINED FORCES COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS CHIEF)

The March exercise had planned to improve on operational capabilities to prepare for the event of South Korea getting back its wartime operations control from the U.S. Now this plan hitting a snag, observers say the wartime control transfer schedule may also be delayed. It's difficult to predict how long the virus outbreak will continue and also considering other training schedules, the Korea-US bilateral drill for the year's first half could be called off altogether. Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo who is visiting the US at the moment said the cancellation of a single exercise would not affect the two allies' military readiness and vowed to maintain a steadfast defense posture.