South Korea postpones large-scale military drill due to upcoming APEC summit

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) - South Korea’s military on Thursday announced the postponement of an annual large-scale field training exercise set for mid-October due to an upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, local media reported.

The Hoguk exercise, originally scheduled to run from Oct. 20-24, will be rescheduled to Nov. 17-21, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The decision was made to maintain a "thorough military readiness posture" to ensure South Korea's successful hosting of the summit, the military said.

The multilateral diplomatic event will be held in the southeastern city of Gyeongju on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1.

The rescheduling of the exercise also appears to reflect the efforts of President Lee Jae Myung's administration to ease tensions with North Korea and improve inter-Korean relations, the report said.

Launched in 1996, the Hoguk exercise is aimed at enhancing the interoperability of the armed forces and strengthening the military's readiness posture.

North Korea has long condemned the joint US-South Korea exercises as rehearsals for an invasion.