The United States and the Republic of Korea (ROK) began their annual summertime joint military exercise in a scaled-back manner on Tuesday amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Yonhap News Agency reported. 

The computer-simulated Combined Command Post Training, originally slated to kick off on Sunday, was postponed after an officer of the ROK Army who was supposed to take part in the exercise tested positive for COVID-19. The exercise will end on August 28. 

It is the first major exercise between the two countries this year, as their annual springtime drill was canceled due to the outbreak. 

"All the service members who had close contact with the officer tested negative for the virus," a military officer said. "We've been implementing tougher quarantine and virus prevention schemes and increased monitoring by operating a separate task force. Currently, the exercise is underway without a hitch." 

The training has been scaled down because of restrictions imposed for epidemic control. New cases have soared in the ROK recently, whereas the U.S. is the worst-hit country in the world. 

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The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has long criticized joint exercises between the U.S. and the ROK, calling them rehearsals for invading it. 

Relations between the DPRK and the ROK worsened in June with Pyongyang blowing up the inter-Korean liaison office building in its border town of Kaesong. Pyongyang also threatened to take military action against Seoul, but the plans were called off by DPRK leader Kim Jong Un later.