Major-general Jeffrey Miller, Chief of Operations of the Combined US/Korea Command said Tuesday that the Foal Eagle exercise scheduled for this year has been put off until March 2002, when it will be combined with a reinforcement and supply drill.

Experts say that the joint exercise will include a large-scale landing and as such will resemble the Team Spirit exercise cancelled since 1994, though the Ministry of National Defense and the CUS/KC denied that it was a revival of this.

A ministry official said that Korea has paid US$8.5 million as its share for the cost of the three exercises conducted yearly since 1997, as of last year. The US wants Korea to pay 30% of the total exercise cost, while it pays 70%.

(Yoo Yong-won, kysu@chosun.com )