The U.S. and South Korea are resuming joint military exercises Monday for the first time since they were suspended earlier this year.
The Korean Marine Exchange Program is a regularly scheduled combat exercise between U.S. and South Korean marines. About 500 troops from both countries will take part in the two-week exercise, Yonhap News Agency reports.
Joint drills were indefinitely canceled in June as a gesture of good faith to North Korea as denuclearization talks were underway. The news that they're restarting comes a few days after North Korea warned it might resume nuclear weapons development if the U.S. doesn't lift economic sanctions. The U.S. has long said the annual drills are for defense purposes.
In an interview with "Face the Nation" on Sunday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he will meet with one of Kim Jong-un's advisers sometime this week for another round of talks. He said sanctions won't be lifted until the U.S. can verify that North Korea has completely denuclearized.
