South Korea's Defence Minister, Jeong Kyeong-doo has said Seoul and Washington will decide in the coming weeks whether to continue suspending large-scale joint military drills. He was speaking after hosting 50th annual Security Consultative Meeting along with US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis at the Pentagon yesterday. He said officials were conducting a review on what to do about large-scale future exercises.<br />'' <br />''Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said the Pentagon is not currently concerned about a degradation in military readiness, and both he and Jeong noted that smaller-scale collaborative training was ongoing.<br />'' <br />''After President Donald Trump's meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June this year, the US had said that it would suspend select exercises with South Korea, including the large-scale Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercises over the summer. <br />''<br />''<br />''<br />''<span style="color: #222222;">The two allies announced this month that they would also suspend a December drill called "Vigilant Ace" to give diplomats more time to negotiate with North Korea on its nuclear arsenal.</span><br />