Trump Plans to Reduce S. Korea Drills
PHOTO CAPTION: U.S. army soldiers take part in a U.S.-South Korea joint river-crossing exercise, which is a part of the annual Freedom Shield joint military training, near the demilitarized zone separating South and North Korea, in Yeoncheon, South Korea, March 14, 2026. REUTERS/Kim Soo-hyeon
WASHINGTON/SEOUL, Aug. 16 — President Donald Trump on Sunday instructed the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” joint military exercises with South Korea, citing the cost of the drills and Seoul’s refusal to join U.S. actions against Iran.
Trump issued the directive on Truth Social just hours before the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises were scheduled to begin, saying he was “not happy” that the United States had agreed to participate. He also pointed to what he called his “very good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“These exercises are not only costly ... 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,” Trump wrote.
The exercises are scheduled to run through Aug. 27 and involve about 18,000 South Korean military personnel. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff told Reuters the drills began Monday as planned.
South Korea’s presidential Blue House said it was reviewing Trump’s post and hoped the relationship between Trump and Kim would lead to meaningful U.S.-North Korean dialogue and discussions aimed at peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. It said Seoul and Washington would continue coordinating on their combined defense posture and military exercises.
Responding to Trump’s claim that South Korean President Lee Jae Myung had declined to participate in U.S. efforts to denuclearize Iran, the Blue House said Seoul was discussing possible military contributions while taking into account its defense requirements on the Korean Peninsula and domestic legal procedures.
A Pentagon spokesperson referred questions to the White House, which did not immediately provide additional details.
Trump renews push to curb drills
Trump has long sought to end or reduce military exercises with South Korea and has repeatedly clashed with Seoul over the cost of stationing 28,500 U.S. troops there and over the role those forces should play across the wider region.
North Korea, which remains technically at war with South Korea, routinely condemns U.S.-South Korean exercises as preparations for an invasion. Pyongyang last week fired a ballistic missile from its eastern coast toward the Sea of Japan, days after another North Korean short-range ballistic missile launch.
“This decision may be part of a larger effort to create a diplomatic opportunity with Pyongyang, as Trump has consistently wanted since coming back to office, although the haphazard nature of this move is unlikely to make much of an impression in Pyongyang,” Jenny Town, head of the Stimson Center’s 38 North program, said in an email.
Trump and Kim have had a volatile relationship. Trump once called Kim “little rocket man” and threatened North Korea with “fire and fury,” while Kim described Trump as a “mentally deranged U.S. dotard.” The two later held three summits, and Trump said they “fell in love” after exchanging letters, though those efforts did not lead to changes in North Korea’s nuclear weapons or ballistic missile programs.
Trump on Sunday also linked his frustration with Seoul to the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran.
“While somewhat unrelated (?), 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!’” Trump wrote.
North Korea and economic tensions
It remains unclear how much the exercises could be reduced. In recent years, the drills have shifted away from some live-fire training toward computer-simulated missile and cyberattack scenarios.
Victor Cha, head of the Korea program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Trump may also be seeking greater leverage over North Korea as Pyongyang deepens its military relationship with Russia.
“The other way to look at this is that Trump wants to engage Kim as a way to impede the Russia-NK ties,” Cha said.
U.S. military officials have said North Korean troops fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine have gained combat experience. Ukraine also said last week that North Korean-made missiles were used in a Russian ballistic missile attack on a steel plant in Zaporizhzhia.
Lieutenant General Joseph Jarrard, a senior U.S. Northern Command official, warned last week that North Korea had successfully tested intercontinental ballistic missiles with “enough boost to deliver a nuclear payload anywhere in North America.”
Trump has also repeatedly pressed South Korea to assume a larger share of defense costs, although a U.S. official this year described Seoul as a “model ally” committed to increasing military spending in line with U.S. regional strategy.
Broader economic tensions remain as well. A former U.S. official who served during Trump’s first administration said he believed the president was “frustrated with the intransigence” of South Korea’s government over economic disputes.
“The Lee government has repeatedly pursued policies antagonistic to American companies and shown little interest in following through on the historic investment deal with the United States,” the former official said.
The countries reached a trade agreement last year that lowered Trump’s auto tariffs in exchange for a South Korean commitment to invest $350 billion. Seoul has not yet announced details of that investment plan, while the allies have also been at odds over South Korea’s investigation of U.S.-listed e-commerce company Coupang following a major data leak.
(Source: Reuters)
