South Korea and the U.S. are in talks over plans to push ahead with a series of modified annual air combat drills, Seoul’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) said on Tuesday.

In news which comes several days after Seoul’s Yonhap News Agency reported that the U.S. and ROK militaries had agreed to suspend the large-scale annual Vigilant Ace exercise, South Korea admitted that a potentially more low-key operation was in the works.

“The ROK and the U.S. are adjusting… detailed implementation plans for each training in close consultation to maintain the combined readiness posture,” MND spokesperson Choi Hyun-soo said during a news briefing.