South Korea and the United States will conduct their springtime military exercise this week, but the joint drill will be smaller than usual because of the coronavirus pandemic, Seoul said on Sunday.

Axar.az reports that the allies will begin a nine-day “computer-simulated command post exercise” on Monday, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

South Korea and the United States decided to move forward with the drills after “comprehensively taking into consideration the COVID-19 situation, the maintenance of the combat readiness posture, the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and the establishment of peace,” the JCS said, noting that the exercise is “defensive” in nature.

The drills will not include outdoor maneuvers, which have been carried out throughout the year, and the number of troops and equipment will be minimized due to the pandemic, Yonhap news agency reported.