{
  "id": 1397578,
  "title": "U.S. President Donald Trump said on March 1 that he would accept a reduction in joint military exercises with South Korea.\n\nThis is a core issue that has been raised by South Korea and the U.S. in the past.\n\nIn response to a reporter's question about the joint military exercises with South Korea at a press conference in Hanoi, Vietnam, on March 1, President Trump said, \"I think we will reduce, yes.\n\nAt some point, I think we will reduce.\"\n\nWhen asked if he had discussed the issue with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, he replied, \"We have discussed it many times.\"\n\nThe joint military exercises between South Korea and the U.S. have been conducted in various forms and scales over the years.\n\nThe large-scale exercises, known as Max Thunder and Key Resolve, were suspended or reduced under the Trump administration.\n\nIn particular, the Max Thunder exercise, which was conducted every year in May, was canceled in 2018.\n\nThe Key Resolve exercise was also renamed and scaled down.\n\nThe South Korean government has expressed its position that it is desirable to maintain the joint military exercises at a level that does not hinder the denuclearization negotiations with North Korea.\n\nHowever, President Trump's remark that \"we will reduce\" the joint military exercises seems to be a different line from the South Korean government.\n\nThe U.S. has not officially announced a decision to reduce the joint military exercises.\n\nThe South Korean government has not made a clear statement on the issue.\n\nThe issue of reducing the joint military exercises is likely to be a topic of discussion at the upcoming summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi, Vietnam.\n\nSome analysts say that President Trump may be trying to use the card of North Korea to get out of the crisis with Iran.\n\nPresident Trump has been trying to hold negotiations with North Korea and Iran, which are major nuclear issues, at the same time.\n\nIn particular, the U.S. is experiencing a difficult situation in its negotiations with Iran, and some analysts say that President Trump may be trying to use the card of North Korea to get out of the crisis with Iran.\n\nIn response to a question about the possibility of a summit with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, President Trump said at a press conference, \"I'm always open to a summit.\"\n\nHowever, he also said, \"But I also think that at some point, we have to have a very, very strong border.\"\n\nThe U.S. and Iran have been in a tense situation since President Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018.\n\nThe U.S. has imposed economic sanctions on Iran, and Iran has responded by gradually abandoning its nuclear commitments under the Iran nuclear deal.\n\nThe situation between the U.S. and Iran is currently in a state of stalemate.\n\nIn this situation, President Trump's remark that \"we will reduce\" the joint military exercises with South Korea seems to be an attempt to use the card of North Korea to get out of the crisis with Iran.",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/17/story-1397578",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-17T00:12:50.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Hankyoreh",
    "slug": "hankyoreh",
    "url": "https://www.hani.co.kr/arti/international/america/1273203.html"
  },
  "original_language": "ko",
  "account": null,
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}