South Korea, US scale back annual military drills after Trump’s order

South Korea and the United States have shortened the duration of their joint military drills and scaled back field training exercises after US President Donald Trump ordered a “substantial reduction” in the annual war games.

The Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, which began on August 17, will be cut from 11 days to five and will now end on August 21, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said on Tuesday.

The adjustment to the duration of the drills was agreed at Washington’s suggestion, the JCS said, adding that some combined ‌field manoeuvre training would also be scaled back.

According to South Korean media, Seoul’s Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back said the allies were moving to cancel the second phase of the drills, which had been expected to involve counterattack operations after an initial defensive phase.

A US Department of Defense official told the Reuters news agency the department had substantially reduced the exercise and associated live-training events, with some cancelled or switched to simulations.

The changes would preserve essential readiness and training aims, with no degradation to US training objectives, the official added.

The changes follow Trump’s order on Sunday to reduce the US role in the drills, citing his “very good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trump also linked the decision to Seoul’s refusal to join the US and Israel’s war on Iran.

South Korea’s Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said at a parliamentary hearing on Wednesday that neither South Korean nor US officials had been aware in advance of Trump’s order to scale back joint military drills.