S. Korea, US shorten UFS exercise, scale back field drills

South Korea and the United States have agreed to shorten their ongoing Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise and scale back some combined field training exercises. According to Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff, the allies made this decision at the US side's proposal, cutting the exercise short to end on Friday, after it began on Monday.

The North Korean state media has denounced the joint military drills, calling them the "most immediate and open threat" to Pyongyang and regional security. A commentary by the state-run Korean Central News Agency repeated this position, saying the drill poses a threat to North Korea and regional security.

North Korea's reaction to the exercise was reported by multiple outlets, with Yonhap News citing the Korean Central News Agency as saying that Pyongyang will "completely neutralize the enemies' military threat" and exercise its right to self-defense. The US stations about 28,500 troops in South Korea.

Brief written by urgent.news from The Korea Times, The Korea Times, Free Malaysia Today, Yonhap News — 4 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.