S Korea and US to cancel joint military air drill

South Korea and the United States are expected tocancel a combined air drill for the second straight year to avoidtensions with North Korea as denuclearization talks remain stalled,local media reported Saturday. Citing an unnamed source, South Korean news agency Yonhap reportedthat the military authorities from the two countries "shared theunderstanding" to postpone the "Vigilant Ace" military air exercise.Planned to take place around December across the Korean Peninsula,the source told Yonhap that the countries are likely to conduct theirown individual drills instead.He added that Seoul and Washington will make a final decision whenthe two countries' defence ministers hold annual talks later thismonth.Pyongyang has often accused the US of preparing an attack throughjoint military exercises with its ally South Korea, threatening thatsuch manoeuvres would affect denuclearization talks.US President Donald Trump met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on themilitary demarcation line inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)separating North and South Korea at the end of June and agreed toresume negotiations on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme.Trump is seeking North Korea's denuclearization and has pressured thecommunist country by ramping up economic sanctions, but progress hasstalled in the nuclear talks despite the high-profile June meeting.