Defense chief's 'joke' adds to speculation about scaled-down drills

In particular, Song added, the two Koreas plan to hold their third summit talks in late April with South Korea and the U.S. scheduled to stage the annual exercises.

He asked Swift to keep doing his best for a firm defense posture through his retirement, reportedly slated for May.

"You need not deploy (defense assets) like nuclear submarines during the remainder of your tenure as commander," the minister said with a slight smile in front of TV cameras.

Ministry officials later played down the remark as a joke.

Song's comments rekindled concerns among conservatives here about the possibility of a reduction in the size of the allies' annual military training.

They plan to kick it off not long after the end of the Paralympics on March 18, although no exact schedule has been announced yet.

Meeting with President Moon Jae-in's special envoys in Pyongyang earlier this week, the North's leader Kim Jong-un was quoted as saying he doesn't take issue with the timing of the exercise itself.

Kim agreed to sit down with Moon at the truce village of Panmunjom late next month and promised to move toward denuclearization if his regime's security is guaranteed.

It represents a significant breakthrough in efforts to improve inter-Korean ties and broker dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington.

Still, many voiced doubts about the intentions behind the North's sudden peace offensive.

They pointed out that Kim's key aim is to sap the alliance and international sanctions on Pyongyang.

Critics accused the defense minister of making thoughtless remarks in public on the alliance at a sensitive time.

Ministry officials later argued that it was a sort of joke or well-wishing remark to make the outgoing commander laugh in consideration of his tireless efforts to send strategic assets to Korea in the face of North Korea's back-to-back missile launches and nuclear tests in recent years.

In a press release, meanwhile, the ministry said Song and Swift discussed ways to achieve the peaceful denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Song briefed the commander on the results of the presidential envoys' trip to the North.

He stressed the importance of close coordination between the allies for maintaining the momentum of inter-Korean dialogue created on the occasion of the PyeongChang Olympics.

He also expressed his gratitude to Swift for his contribution to the security of South Korea and naval partnerships between the two nations since taking office in May 2015.(Yonhap)