Trump says US scaling back military drills with South Korea

WASHINGTON/SEOUL - US President Donald Trump said he was “not happy” about US participation in joint military exercises with close ally South Korea and is scaling back the drills aimed at deterring rival North Korea that start on Aug 17.

Trump’s comments on Aug 16, ahead of the annual “Ulchi Freedom Shield” exercise in South Korea, underscored his willingness to challenge long-standing military alliances, as he harked back to his negotiations with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his first term that failed in the goal of tackling its nuclear programme.

“Based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong Un, of North Korea, I am not happy with the fact that the United States has, long ago, agreed to participate in Joint Military Exercises with South Korea,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“These exercises are not only costly, with much of these costs paid for by the United States of America (as usual!), but send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile, to a Country that, as long as Donald J. Trump has been President, has been unthreatening and respectful,” he continued.

Trump added that it was too late to cancel the drills so he had ordered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “substantially reduce” them.

South Korea’s defence ministry said on Aug 17 that joint military exercises with the US would proceed as scheduled following Trump’s announcement that they would be scaled back.

“We will proceed as previously notified and scheduled,” a ministry spokesperson said in a brief statement when asked about Trump’s post.

The exercise, which runs for 11 days, is a regular summer fixture for South Korea’s armed forces and their US allies, designed to steel them for defence against the nuclear-armed North.

Pyongyang has always been angered by the drills, decrying them as dress rehearsals for an invasion.

The US stations about 28,500 troops in South Korea to bolster the country’s defences against military threats from Pyongyang. That’s a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

American forces typically hold regular military drills with their South Korean counterparts.

Trump has proved willing to challenge long-standing alliances, as he has done with NATO, criticising Western partners for refusing to support his war against Iran, now in its sixth month and without progress on reaching a negotiated settlement.

In the Aug 16 post, Trump also took aim at South Korea on that count, writing: “I recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, ‘No thanks!’“

Battle-hardened

Experts say that North Korea has expanded its nuclear and missile capabilities since the breakdown of Trump’s negotiations with Kim, whom he last met in person in 2019.

Since then, North Korea has also deepened its ties with Russia since the Kremlin commanded the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Pyongyang has sent troops and munitions for Moscow’s faltering war in exchange for financial support, food, energy and military technology, according to analysts.

Last week, Colonel Ryan Donald, spokesman for the US and South Korean Combined Forces Command, said the Ulchi Freedom exercise would simulate combat against North Korean troops battle-hardened by deployment in the Russia-Ukraine war.

The exercise – enlisting 18,000 South Korean troops and counterparts from US forces in the country – will have a heightened focus on drone warfare, GPS disruption and the role of cyber attacks, he said.

South Korea’s dovish President Lee Jae Myung has reversed the stance of his hawkish predecessor since taking power in June 2025, offering Pyongyang talks without preconditions.

But the leadership of North Korea has yet to respond to his repeated offers. AFP