Trump orders cutback in South Korea military drills

President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to substantially scale back joint military exercises with South Korea, linking the decision to his relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Seoul’s refusal to support Washington’s military campaign against Iran.

Trump announced the move hours before the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise was due to begin on Monday, August 17. The drills nevertheless started as scheduled, with South Korea confirming that the programme was proceeding while the Pentagon assessed how the presidential directive would affect the scale and content of the training.

The exercise is scheduled to run until August 27 and involves about 18,000 South Korean troops alongside US personnel. Forces from other United Nations Command member states are also expected to participate in elements of the training. The programme combines computer simulations, field exercises and preparation for threats including missile attacks, drones, cyber operations and disruption of satellite navigation systems.

Trump said cancelling the exercise entirely was no longer practical because preparations had already been completed. He argued that the drills were expensive and sent what he described as an inappropriate and hostile signal to Pyongyang. He also highlighted what he called his “very good relationship” with Kim.

The president introduced another element into the dispute by saying he had asked South Korea to participate in US efforts to denuclearise Iran and had been turned down. His comments indicated that dissatisfaction with Seoul’s position on the Iran conflict had become intertwined with decisions about security arrangements on the Korean peninsula.

The directive creates uncertainty over how much of Ulchi Freedom Shield will now be modified. Some activities require extensive advance planning and involve forces already deployed to designated training areas, making immediate reductions difficult. Other components, particularly simulated operations and future field manoeuvres, could be scaled back more easily.

Washington and Seoul have long described the exercises as defensive training designed to ensure that their forces can operate together during a crisis. US military commanders regard combined exercises as a central part of maintaining readiness among forces that would have to coordinate rapidly if conflict broke out on the peninsula.

About 28,500 US military personnel are stationed in South Korea. Their presence and the exercises supporting the alliance have repeatedly become points of contention for Trump, who has questioned the financial burden borne by Washington and pressed Seoul to contribute more towards defence costs.

North Korea has consistently condemned major US-South Korean exercises as rehearsals for invasion. Pyongyang has frequently answered them with missile launches, military demonstrations or warnings of retaliation. North Korea fired a ballistic missile from its eastern coast last week, following another short-range ballistic missile launch on August 6.

The latest exercises were designed partly around changes in North Korea’s military capabilities. South Korean and US planners have placed greater emphasis on drones, electronic warfare, cyberattacks and GPS interference, reflecting lessons from conflicts elsewhere and developments in Pyongyang’s armed forces.

North Korean troops deployed alongside Russia in the Ukraine war have also acquired battlefield experience involving unmanned systems, artillery and electronic warfare. North Korean weapons, including ballistic missiles, have been used by Russian forces, deepening concern in Washington and Seoul that military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang is strengthening North Korea’s operational capabilities.

US defence officials have separately warned about advances in North Korea’s strategic missile programme. Pyongyang has tested intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of travelling ranges that could place much of North America within reach, although questions remain about the reliability of some technologies needed for an operational long-range nuclear strike.

Trump’s approach revives a central feature of his first-term diplomacy with Kim. After their 2018 Singapore summit, Trump unexpectedly announced the suspension of major joint exercises, calling them costly and provocative. The two leaders subsequently met in Hanoi in 2019 and again at the inter-Korean border, but negotiations failed to produce an agreement eliminating North Korea’s nuclear arsenal.

That history has fuelled debate over whether reducing exercises could create diplomatic space for another attempt at negotiations or instead weaken deterrence without securing concessions from Pyongyang. Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, a former Navy pilot, criticised the planned reductions, arguing that cutting joint training would undermine military preparedness.