South Korea, US finish low-key military drill amid cross-border talks

South Korea and the United States completed a 12-day joint military drill on Friday, the Combined Forces Command said, amid North Korea's unusually low-key stance as the two Koreas are engaged in talks over a number of cross-border projects. About 56,000 South Korean troops and approximately 30,000 U.S. soldiers, including some 3,000 from the U.S. and other bases in the Pacific region, carried out the computer-aided Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) from Aug. 19 to test and improve their defense posture against the North. "This year's Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise further strengthened our combined defense and enhanced the readiness of the Republic of Korea, U.S. Forces and the U.N. sending states," Gen. James Thurman, the Combined Forces commander, said in a statement. "The exercise was based on realistic scenarios that enabled us to provide valuable training on our essential tasks and ensured we are fully prepared to defend the Republic of Korea." Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission observers monitored the exercise along with seven United Nations Command (UNC) states -- Australia, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, New Zealand and Norway.