South Korea and the U.S. need to “remain flexible” on joint military drills in order to not close off the possibility of making diplomatic progress in denuclearization negotiations with the North, the U.S. Secretary of Defense stressed on Friday.

Speaking during a joint news conference following the 51st Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) in Seoul, Pentagon chief Mark Esper said he and his South Korean counterpart Jeong Kyeong-doo had held “a series of productive discussions today on a variety of important issues."