South Korea and the United States plan to carry out a large-scale joint military exercise in early March, a source here said Tuesday, despite North Korea’s recent calls for halting joint drills this year.

Last week, Pyongyang sent a message to Washington expressing its will to temporarily suspend nuclear tests if the U.S. halts its joint military exercises with South Korea this year, though the U.S. effectively spurned the offer.

The military source said Key Resolve, one of the two major annual combined exercises on the Korean Peninsula between the allies, “is scheduled to take place in early March to check and boost their joint readiness posture.” The war game used to take place in late February.

The remark came after the local daily Hankook Ilbo reported Tuesday, citing a government official, that Seoul and Washington have agreed to delay the Key Resolve exercise by about a week, a move believed to factor in recent developments in inter-Korean ties.

In a nationally televised news conference on Monday, South Korean President Park Geun-hye expressed her hope for the two Koreas to hold a new round of reunions of families separated by the

1950-53 Korean War, around Lunar New Year’s Day, which falls on Feb. 19.

Seoul’s Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok, however, denied the report, saying that the exercise schedule was fixed a long time ago. “It has nothing to do with possible family reunions, though the exact date of when to begin the drill is subject to change.”

In a brief email statement, U.S. Forces Korea said South Korea and the U.S. “are preparing for exercise Key Resolve ... Key Resolve focuses on crisis management and command and control of alliance forces. More information on the exercise will be available at a later date.”

The North has called on the U.S. and South Korea to stop joint military drills, claiming that they are a rehearsal for a northward invasion. But the allies have vowed to continue the exercises, as they are defensive in nature.

The drill usually involves tens of thousands of troops from both sides. About 28,500 U.S. soldiers are stationed in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War. (Yonhap)