US Scales Back Joint Military Drills with South Korea
President Trump cites relationship with Kim Jong Un for substantial reduction in exercises, sparking alliance concerns.
Image: Eddie Pollard / AI
Callum Smith
The United States will substantially reduce joint military exercises with South Korea.
On Sunday, August 16, 2026, Trump instructed Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to substantially reduce the Joint Military Exercises with South Korea.
He announced the policy change on his Truth Social page, stating he was not happy with the plans for large-scale joint exercises.
Trump claimed the drills were '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 further elaborated, '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.'
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth had praised South Korea in May 2026 for its 'commitment to increase defense spending' and its 'leadership in assuming primary responsibility for the security of the Korean Peninsula' during a meeting at the Pentagon.
The Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, involving thousands of US and South Korean troops, was scheduled to run until August 27.
Joint military exercises were set to begin on Monday, August 17, 2026, despite Trump's directive.
These war games were expected to involve approximately 18,000 South Korean troops alongside US forces and 12 of the 18 member states of the United Nations Command.
The US military has already redeployed missile defense interceptors from South Korea to the Middle East and withdrawn an aircraft carrier from the region to focus on operations against Iran.
Trump's comments indicated the order to reduce US involvement in training drills related to cost, South Korea's reluctance to join the US denuclearization of Iran, and his concern that the exercises send an inappropriate and hostile signal to North Korea.
South Korea, previously considered a model American ally regarding burden sharing, declined to help denuclearize the Middle Eastern country.
Hollowing out these joint exercises is shortsighted and a mistake.
Mark Kelly, however, criticized the decision, stating, 'Hollowing out these joint exercises is shortsighted and a mistake.'
Andy Kim also expressed concern, noting, 'Our alliance with the Republic of Korea is critical for US security and prosperity - and I am concerned that President Trump's post today suggests a disregard for this relationship.'
Despite Trump's assertions of North Korea being 'unthreatening and respectful,' Kim Jong-Un has supplied Russia with military equipment for its war in Ukraine.
North Korean manufactured missiles were used in a Russian ballistic missile attack on a steel plant in Zaporizhzhia, killing seven.
Pyongyang has also been expanding its nuclear and missile arsenals since 2019.
Military officials from both the US and South Korea are warning that Kim Jong-un’s regime is learning new battlefield tactics from the Ukraine war.
Officials state, 'Our training accounts for that threat, that is why the exercise looks different from previous exercises, and over the last five years it’s continually evolved.'