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Yon Hap News Agency (5 February 2019)

South Korea and the United States are currently discussing when to announce the dates of their scheduled joint military exercises, Seoul's defense sources said Tuesday.

The two countries have already decided on the schedule and scope of their combined exercises that are scheduled for the first half of this year, they said.

"(The two sides) finished arbitration on the method of S. Korea-U.S. military exercises slated for the first half of the year," said a defense ministry source who asked not to be named, adding that two sides just have to decide on the date of the announcement.

The announcement is likely to be made after a meeting between the U.S. envoy and his North Korean counterpart on this month's planned summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, they said.

Earlier in the day, the U.S. State Department announced that Special Representative Stephen Biegun will visit the North Korean capital from Seoul to meet with his newly appointed counterpart, Kim Hyok-chol, and prepare for the U.S. president's second meeting with the North Korean leader.

There have been media reports that South Korea and the U.S. discussed holding the Key Resolve exercise for two weeks from early March and may downsize the scale or change the name of the Foal Eagle exercise scheduled for April.

https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20190205001100320?section=national/diplomacy