SEOUL, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Combined forces of South Korea and the United States will launch their joint military exercise from April 1, Seoul's defense ministry said Tuesday.

The springtime war games, codenamed Key Resolve and Foal Eagle, will be carried out in a similar scale with last year as agreed upon by defense ministers of the two countries, according to the ministry.

Seoul and Washington had agreed to halt the joint war games during the Winter Olympic and Paralympic period.

The Winter Olympics was held in February in South Korea's east county of Pyeongchang, followed by the Winter Paralympics that ended on Sunday.

The UN military command informed the Democratic People's Republic of Korea of schedules for the exercises, saying the Key Resolve command post drill and the Foal Eagle field training exercise are defensive in nature.

The Foal Eagle would reportedly last for about a month from April 1, while the Key Resolve would be conducted for two weeks from April 23.