US-South Korea drills scaled back, Trump says

US President Donald Trump said Sunday he had ordered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “substantially reduce” joint military exercises with South Korea that are due to start Monday.

Trump wrote on Truth Social that he was “not happy” about US participation in the drills with the close US ally. He said the exercises were costly, with much of the cost paid by the United States, and sent what he called an “inappropriate and hostile” signal to North Korea.

Trump also referred to his “very good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and said North Korea had been “unthreatening and respectful” while he has been president. He said it was too late to cancel the drills.

The Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise is a regular summer fixture for South Korean forces and their US allies. It is designed to prepare them for defence against nuclear-armed North Korea and is scheduled to run for 11 days.

North Korea has long objected to the drills, describing them as rehearsals for invasion.

Colonel Ryan Donald, spokesman for the US and South Korean Combined Forces Command, said last Monday that the exercise would simulate combat against North Korean troops hardened by deployment in the Russia-Ukraine war. He said it would include 18,000 South Korean troops and counterparts from the US force of 28,500 personnel in South Korea, with a heightened focus on drone warfare, GPS disruption and cyber attacks.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, who took office in June 2025, has offered Pyongyang talks without preconditions. North Korea’s leadership has not responded to those offers.

The two Koreas remain technically at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.