The Korea Herald

지나쌤

S. Korea, US conduct combined air exercise amid coronavirus

By Yonhap

Published : Jan. 6, 2021 - 09:14

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South Korea and US combined air exercise (Yonhap) South Korea and US combined air exercise (Yonhap)
South Korea and the United States conducted their wintertime combined exercise last month amid concerns over the new coronavirus pandemic, a military source said Wednesday.

The allies held a scaled-back version of their original wintertime drills, codenamed Vigilant Ace, from Dec. 7-11, involving fighters, such as F-15K and KF-16 jets from South Korea and F-16s from the US, according to the source.

The annual Vigilant Ace exercise was replaced with a smaller training starting in 2018 to support diplomatic efforts to denuclearize North Korea.

"It was a regular training to check the allies' capability to carry out combined operations," an Air Force officer said. (Yonhap)