A major U.S.-South Korea military exercise will end six days early after President Donald Trump ordered the allies to scale back drills he called a hostile signal to North Korea.
Ulchi Freedom Shield began Monday and had been scheduled to continue through Aug. 27. It will now end Friday, according to U.S. and South Korean officials.
The annual drill is one of the allies’ major military exercises and is meant to test how U.S. and South Korean forces would respond together if a conflict broke out on the Korean Peninsula.
Training cut short
A Defense Department official said associated live-training events have been reduced, with certain events canceled or converted to simulations.
The official said the changes preserve essential readiness and that there will be no degradation to U.S. training objectives.
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South Korea’s military said the allies agreed, at Washington’s request, to adjust the duration and scale of the exercise.
Some combined field training exercises will be reduced, and the allies are still consulting on details.
Seoul caught off guard
The order appears to have surprised officials in South Korea, a key U.S. ally that relies heavily on Washington for security.
South Korean Foreign Affairs Minister Cho Hyun told lawmakers Wednesday that neither South Korea’s government nor U.S. government officials had prior knowledge of Trump’s order to scale back the drills.
Stars and Stripes reported that South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back said the order was made “unilaterally.”
Trump points to Kim relationship
Trump called for the reduction hours before the exercise began, saying the drills sent a “totally inappropriate and hostile” signal to North Korea.
He also cited what he called his “very good” relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Trump said Monday he was not sacrificing the security of U.S. allies and argued he was “actually making it much safer.”
“I understand him; he understands me,” Trump said of Kim.
Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in restarting talks with Kim after earlier diplomacy collapsed in 2019.
North Korea condemns the drills
The U.S. and South Korea say their drills are defensive. North Korea has long condemned them as preparation for an invasion.
North Korean state media again criticized Ulchi Freedom Shield on Wednesday.
Korea called the exercise a threat to Pyongyang and regional security and said North Korea’s “exercise of its right to self-defense will continue to completely neutralize the enemies’ military threat.”
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