Seoul, Aug 10 (IANS): The combined forces of South Korea and the US on Tuesday began the four-day preliminary drill ahead of next week's annual military exercise,.

The crisis management staff training (CMST) will last until Friday, led by the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to check ways to prevent any emergency crisis situations from developing into a war, reports Xinhua news agency.

It will be conducted on a smaller scale compared to the first-half drills given the Covid-19 pandemic resurgence.

The preliminary training will be followed by the computer-simulated combined command post training (CCPT) slated for August 16-26, according to the Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency.

It will be also staged on a scaled-down manner.

North Korea has denounced the joint annual military drills as a dress rehearsal for northward invasion.

The military exercise came after South Korea and North Korea restored their cross-border communication lines, which had been severed for over a year, on July 27, raising expectations for a conciliatory mood between the two nations.