The U.S. said Wednesday it will scale back military exercises with South Korea next year, so the war games are not a hindrance to diplomacy over ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said the exercises with Seoul, called Foal Eagle, are conducted each spring in South Korea, but will be "reduced in scope" in 2019.

He gave no details of how the exercises will be downsized, but said the reduced scope was an effort by the two allies to encourage further negotiations in the stalled talks between the U.S. and North Korea over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.

"Foal Eagle is being reorganized a bit to keep it at a level that will not be harmful to diplomacy," Mattis said. North Korea has frequently objected to the U.S.-South Korean exercises, viewing them as a threat to its existence as a nation.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed at a June summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore to end Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. But since then negotiations have slowed over how and when North Korea would dismantle its nuclear arsenal.

The Trump administration has said it hopes North Korea's nuclear weapons program will have been shut down by the end of Trump's first term in the White House in January 2021.

Trump has said that another summit with Kim could take place, but no date or place for such a meeting has been announced.

美国周三表示将在明年缩减与韩国的军事演习，这样美韩军演就不会妨碍结束朝鲜核武器计划的外交努力。

美国国防部长马蒂斯说，与首尔举行的名为“秃鹫”的军事演习每年春天在韩国进行，但2019年将“缩小规模”。

他没有详细说明将如何缩小演习规模，但表示这是两个盟国在美朝之间就平壤的核武器计划谈判陷入停滞后为鼓励进一步谈判而作出的努力。

马蒂斯说，“‘秃鹫'演习正在进行一些重组，以维持在不伤害外交努力的水平。”朝鲜一直反对美韩演习，将其视为对朝鲜作为一个国家存在的威胁。

朝鲜领导人金正恩与美国总统特朗普6月份在新加坡举行的峰会上就结束平壤的核武器计划达成一致。但自那时以来，有关朝鲜解除其核武库的方式和时间的谈判进展放缓。

特朗普政府表示希望在总统在2021年1月的第一个任期结束前取消掉朝鲜的核武器计划。

特朗普已经表示可能会再次与金正恩举行峰会，但没有宣布会议的日期或地点。

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