WASHINGTON, D.C.: The United States and South Korea are considering curtailing joint military exercises due to concerns about the spread of coronavirus, officials said Monday.

After a meeting at the Pentagon to review a full range of issues, including a standoff over US demands that Seoul pay a much bigger share of the cost of hosting American forces, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo told reporters that coronavirus is a threat to their schedule of military exercises.