S Korean, U.S. marines to expand joint drills
SEOUL. January 19. KAZINORM South Korean and U.S. marines have agreed to expand their joint exercises and regularize drills off western border islands near the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the defense ministry in Seoul said Thursday; Kazinform refers to Xinhua.
South Korea's marine chief Lt. Gen. Lee Ho-yeon and Maj. Gen. Michael R. Regner, the head of U.S. marines based here, agreed at a meeting in Seoul to hold a large-scale joint maneuver early this year involving their brigade-level units.
The ministry said the planned exercise, which will combine landing exercises that had been held separately by the allies, will be the largest-ever in 23 years.
The commanders also discussed expanding joint exercises overseas by dispatching battalion-level units to the Exercise Cobra Gold, a U.S.-led joint training event to be held next month in Thailand; Kazinform cites Xinhua.
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