US, South Korea shorten military exercise as Trump seeks Kim meeting
The US and South Korea are shortening joint military drills as Trump seeks renewed talks with Kim Jong Un and reportedly pushes for a fall meeting.
The US and South Korea are shortening their joint military drills, known as Ulchi Freedom Shield, at the request of the US. The exercises, which began on Monday, will now end on Friday, six days earlier than originally planned.
The drills have been "substantially reduced" according to a Pentagon official, with some live-training events canceled or converted to simulations. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed that the reduced timeline was at the request of the US and that some joint field training exercises will also be "partially reduced".
US President Donald Trump has been pushing for a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, reportedly as soon as this fall. Trump cited his "very good relationship" with Kim and the cost of the drills as reasons for scaling them back. South Korea's foreign minister, Cho Hyun, said Seoul was not informed of Trump's directive in advance.
Brief written by urgent.news from Arutz Sheva - Israel National News, Jerusalem Post, CBS News, The Guardian — 4 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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- US-led drills to end six days early, South Korea says, amid Trump push for Kim Jong-un talks theguardian.com
- US, South Korea Scale Back Ulchi Freedom Shield Military Drills At Washington’s Request, Exercises To End Early freepressjournal.in
- South Korea shortens war games with US citing Washington request bbc.co.uk
- Trump pauses 50% tariffs on Canada for 3 days thehill.com
- US and South Korean militaries agree to shorten drills days after Trump ordered reduction in joint exercises euronews.com
- South Korea cuts short joint military exercises after Trump intervention asia.nikkei.com
