Seoul not notified in advance of Trump's order to scale back drills: FM Cho

Foreign Minister Cho Hyun stated that the South Korean government was not informed in advance of U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to scale back combined military exercises. Cho told the National Assembly Committee on Foreign Affairs and Unification that neither South Korean officials nor U.S. officials were aware of Trump's directive on his Truth Social platform.

The reduction of the ongoing South Korea-U.S. joint military exercise, Ulchi Freedom Shield, was reportedly the result of close consultations between Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back and U.S. counterparts. Cho expressed confidence that the reduced exercise would not impact the planned transfer of wartime operational control, as the drills were being scaled back at the request of the United States.

He also noted that Washington should not be able to use the reduction as a reason to further delay the transfer, as the drills are being scaled back at the U.S. request. The possibility of a summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un this fall was also mentioned by Cho.

Brief written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.