World News
Trump orders reduction of joint military exercises with South Korea on the eve of their start
By Staff Writer | 17 August 2026
The United States president instructed the head of the Pentagon on Sunday to substantially reduce this week's Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise with South Korea, eleven days of training involving about 18,000 South Korean soldiers, saying the cost falls on the United States and the exercises send the wrong signal to North Korea.
President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon on Sunday to scale back the joint military exercises with South Korea that were due to begin the following day. The instruction was issued in a written post the day before Ulchi Freedom Shield, the two allies' main annual combined exercise, was scheduled to open.
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
Donald Trump, President of the United States
Mr Trump wrote that North Korea "has been unthreatening and respectful" during his time in the White House, and concluded: "Therefore, and based on the fact that it is too late to cancel, I have instructed Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to substantially reduce the Joint Military Exercises!"
Eleven days, 18,000 soldiers
Ulchi Freedom Shield has been held annually under that name since 2022, though the summer exercises it grew from date back decades. This year's edition was planned as eleven days of training involving about 18,000 South Korean soldiers alongside United States forces. The United States military said the two armies were expected to practise joint operations in complex scenarios, including a live fire exercise to test joint precision targeting and manoeuvre, a wet gap crossing, and the distribution of prepositioned military equipment.
In its published description of the exercise, the United States military said the training "reinforces the role of the alliance as the linchpin for regional peace and security" and reaffirms the two countries' commitment to defending their homelands.
North Korea said on Friday that it would take unspecified stern steps against the United States and South Korea, describing the planned exercise as "a rehearsal for an aggressive war". Pyongyang regularly issues statements of that kind ahead of the two allies' combined training.
A relationship Mr Trump wants to keep
Mr Trump referred in his post to his relationship with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, which he called "very good". He met Mr Kim three times during his first term to discuss North Korea's nuclear programme, most recently in 2019, and has said since returning to office that he wants to continue those discussions. A day before the order, he published a photograph of himself standing beside Mr Kim.
It is not the first time Mr Trump has moved against the exercises. After his 2018 meeting with Mr Kim in Singapore he told reporters: "We will be stopping the war games, which will save us a tremendous amount of money, unless and until we see the future negotiation is not going along like it should." Whether this week's exercise now runs in reduced form, and in what form, is a matter for the Pentagon, which Mr Trump has directed to make the reduction rather than cancel the training outright.