South Korea and the United States are to reduce the scale of their joint naval exercises slated for early September in a bid to avoid raising tension in the region. The reported move comes after North Korea and China protested the planned military maneuvers in the tense waters, criticizing them for raising tension in the region. The joint naval drills are scheduled to stage off the west coast of the Korean peninsula as the latest show of force aimed at preventing North Korea from waging further aggression. In July, South Korea and the United States held massive four- day exercises in the Yellow Sea in response to the North's alleged torpedo attack in March on a South Korean warship, which killed 46 South Korean sailors.