Trump directs Hegseth to reduce U.S. joint exercises in South Korea
President Trump said Sunday he told Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “substantially reduce” the joint military exercises with South Korea. Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that he’s “not happy with the fact that the United States has, long ago, agreed to participate” in these joint military exercises. He also noted that South Korea...
US President Donald Trump has instructed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to substantially reduce joint military exercises with South Korea. According to Trump, the exercises are costly and send a hostile signal to North Korea, with which he claims to have a very good relationship.
The exercises, known as Ulchi Freedom Shield, were set to begin on August 17 and run for 11 days, involving around 18,000 South Korean soldiers. Trump cited South Korea's recent refusal to join the US in denuclearizing Iran as another reason for reducing the drills.
Neither Seoul nor Pyongyang has commented on Trump's announcement. The decision comes after North Korea conducted ballistic missile tests earlier this month that are banned by the United Nations.
Brief written by urgent.news from The Hill, Punch, BBC News, South China Morning Post, Jerusalem Post — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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