A South Korean soldier stands guard at the main gate of the Defense Ministry in Seoul on Tuesday, as protesters hold a rally opposing a joint military exercise between South Korea and the US. The two countries began annual military exercises on Monday following a coronavirus delay, with the drills likely to infuriate the North which sees them rehearsals for invasion. Photo: AFP

 South Korea's defense ministry said Monday that no decision had been made yet over the joint annual military exercise with the United States this summer.

Boo Seung-chan, defense ministry spokesperson, told an online press briefing that nothing was finalized yet over how, when and on which scale the annual South Korea-US command post exercise would be conducted, saying it would be decided by the authorities of South Korea and the US.

The combined forces of South Korea and the US have annually staged the summertime command post drills around mid-August, which the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) denounced as a dress rehearsal for invasion.

Boo said Seoul and Washington were in close consultations over the issue taking into account the overall situations, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the combined defense posture, the transfer of wartime operational control, and the support for diplomatic efforts to establish lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Kim Yo Jong, the DPRK's vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, said in a statement Sunday night that the South Korea-US joint military drills are "an undesirable prelude" which clouds the way ahead for DPRK-South Korea relations.

Kim noted that the restoration of the inter-Korean communication lines should not be taken as anything more than just the "physical reconnection."

On July 27, South Korea and the DPRK restored their cross-border communication channels that had been severed for over a year.

Lee Jong-joo, spokesperson of the South Korean unification ministry in charge of inter-Korean relations, told a press briefing that the ministry will continue efforts to deal with the South Korea-US military drills in a wise and flexible manner so as not to escalate military tensions on the peninsula.

An unnamed high-ranking official of the unification ministry told local reporters last week that it would be "desirable" to delay the summertime joint military exercise given the pandemic resurgence and the need to engage the DPRK.

Regarding the restored inter-Korean communication hotlines, Lee said it was a starting point to restore the long-severed inter-Korean relations and trust, noting that the government will gradually enhance relations with the DPRK to let the restored hotlines lead to resumed inter-Korean dialogue.

South Korea proposed to the DPRK last week a discussion on ways to set up a system for virtual talks between the two Koreas. Pyongyang has yet to respond to the proposal.