US President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to substantially scale back joint military exercises with South Korea due to begin this week, citing his relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and voicing frustration that Seoul had declined to assist Washington’s efforts to denuclearise Iran.
Writing on Truth Social on Sunday, President Trump said that based on his “very good relationship” with Kim Jong Un, he was unhappy that the United States had long ago agreed to take part in joint military exercises with South Korea. He described the drills as costly, with much of the expense borne by the United States, and said they sent a signal that was “totally inappropriate and hostile” to a country that, he claimed, had been “unthreatening and respectful” throughout his presidency.
What Exactly Has The US President Ordered?
President Trump instructed the Pentagon on Sunday to scale back the planned joint exercises, which were due to begin this week, after saying South Korea had declined to help denuclearise Iran. He said he had directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “substantially reduce” the exercises, framing the move as a response to what he characterised as Seoul’s insufficient support on the Iran file.
The exercises in question, known as Ulchi Freedom Shield, were due to begin on Monday and have been held annually under that name since 2022, evolving from summertime US-South Korea drills that date back decades. The programme was expected to include a live-fire exercise testing joint precision targeting and manoeuvre, a wet gap crossing, and the distribution of prepositioned military equipment, according to the US military. Explaining why the drills would proceed in reduced form rather than being cancelled outright, the president said it was “too late to cancel” the exercises entirely.
How Has Pyongyang Reacted To The Drills?
North Korea warned on Friday that it would take unspecified “stern steps” against the United States and South Korea, describing the drills as “a rehearsal for an aggressive war” that was fuelling greater instability in the region. Analysts note that such rhetoric is typical of the language North Korea often deploys ahead of major joint US-South Korean exercises, and that Pyongyang has previously used its rivals’ drills as a pretext to accelerate weapons testing and rally domestic support for Kim Jong Un.
The announcement follows a ballistic missile test conducted by North Korea on Wednesday, its first since June, which experts and military officials assessed as an apparent protest against the planned exercises. The United States, Japan and South Korea jointly condemned the missile launch at the time.
Is This Part Of A Wider Pattern?
The decision echoes a similar approach President Trump took during his first term. The allies had previously downsized much of their combined training activity after Trump unilaterally suspended large-scale field training with South Korea following his first summit with Kim Jong Un in June 2018, at the time criticising the war games as a “provocative” drain of money. Talks between Washington and Pyongyang later stalled after a second Trump-Kim summit collapsed in Vietnam in 2019.
The timing of the latest scale-back has also drawn attention because of broader US military posture in the region. The Japan-based USS George Washington is being redeployed from the Pacific to the Middle East, where it is expected to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln, leaving the United States without an aircraft carrier in the Pacific at the same time President Trump is pulling back from the Korean drills.
Neither South Korea’s defence ministry nor the Pentagon had issued a formal response to President Trump’s announcement by Sunday evening, and it remained unclear precisely how much of this week’s exercise programme would proceed in its reduced form.
