Trump orders joint military exercises with South Korea to be scaled back

US President Donald Trump has instructed the Pentagon to substantially reduce joint military exercises with South Korea. The exercises, called Ulchi Freedom Shield, were set to begin on August 17 and run until August 27, involving 18,000 South Korean soldiers. According to Trump, the annual drills are not only costly, with much of the costs paid for by the US, but also send a "totally inappropriate and hostile" signal to North Korea.

Trump cited his good relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korea's decision not to help with the US effort to denuclearize Iran as reasons for scaling back the exercises. He mentioned that he had asked the President of South Korea to join the US in denuclearizing Iran, but was declined.

The exercises were expected to include operations to counter drones, disrupt GPS signals, and defend against cyberattacks to adapt to North Korea's evolving capabilities. According to The Korea Times, Trump made the announcement in a social media post as Seoul and Washington kicked off their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, which Pyongyang has long decried as rehearsals for war.

Brief written by urgent.news from CBC News, South China Morning Post, The Korea Times, DW News, DW English (Top Stories) — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.