By Lee Min-hyung



The United States Forces Korea (USFK) plans to hold its first-ever mass evacuation exercise to the U.S. during the upcoming joint military drills with South Korea next month, according to reports Friday.

The USFK has held the evacuation exercises, called Focused Passage, twice a year to brace for any worst-case military scenarios. But this is the first time some volunteers of USFK families and noncombatant troops will fly to the U.S. mainland, overseas media said. For this year, the evacuation rehearsal is scheduled from April 16 to 20.

Last year, the USFK evacuated some military families here to Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo.

"We cannot disclose any details on any planned drills," a USFK official said, declining to comment further.

The drills will come as part of this year's joint military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea. The two countries hold the annual drills between late February and early March, but they delayed the plan amid a rare peace momentum on the Korean Peninsula due to North Korea's participation in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics last month.

The sporting event has since paved the way for the regime to actively engage in peace dialogue with the South, with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un offering to invite President Moon Jae-in for a possible summit. After exchanging high-level delegations, the two leaders agreed to hold the historic meeting later next month.

President Moon Jae-in has also taken advantage of Kim's rare signal for dialogue by mediating talks between Washington and Pyongyang. U.S. President Donald Trump also accepted Kim's gesture for dialogue, with both sides expected to meet sometime in May.

Under the peace momentum, Seoul and Washington reached a consensus over keeping the upcoming drills low-key without any strategic weapons — such as nuclear submarines.