Trump orders scale-back of US-South Korea military drills, citing Kim Jong Un ties

President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercises with South Korea, citing his “very good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and frustration that Seoul declined to help with the “denuclearisation” of Iran. Trump said Kim had responded “very positively” to his overtures but gave no further details, while South Korea’s presidential office said it was reviewing the announcement.

What exactly did Trump order?

On Sunday evening, Trump posted on Truth Social that he was “not happy” about US participation in Ulchi Freedom Shield, the 11-day joint exercise due to run from 17 to 27 August involving roughly 18,000 South Korean troops, US forces, and personnel from 11 of the 18 member states of the United Nations Command. He called the drills costly — noting the US pays “much of these costs” — and said they “send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile” toward a North Korea he described as “unthreatening and respectful.” Because it was “too late to cancel” the drills outright, Trump said he directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “substantially reduce” them instead.

Why did Trump link this to Iran?

Trump tied the decision to South Korea’s refusal to join US efforts regarding Iran’s nuclear program. He said he’d asked Seoul to help with “the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran” and South Korea said “No thanks.” In the Oval Office, he elaborated: “We have 39,000 soldiers over there guarding you from Kim Jong Un, your next door neighbour, and you’re not going to help us on a very easy military operation in Iran… All I want is fairness.”

What has Trump said about Kim Jong Un?

Over the weekend Trump posted an old 2019 photo of himself with Kim, calling them “great friends” despite what he called an “unfriendly look” in the picture. Asked in the Oval Office why Kim hadn’t responded to his overtures, Trump pushed back on the premise — “How do you know he hasn’t responded?” — then confirmed Kim had responded and that talks were “very positive,” without elaborating. “Kim Jong-un has always treated me with great respect… I understand him. He understands me,” Trump said. North Korea has not commented.

How has South Korea responded?

Seoul initially said the drills would proceed “as scheduled.” After Trump’s post, the presidential Blue House said it was reviewing his comments and hoped the friendly US-North Korea relationship “will lead to meaningful dialogue” advancing “peace and stability on the Korean peninsula,” while affirming the allies would keep coordinating on their combined defense posture and exercises.

Why are critics alarmed?

Democratic lawmakers were sharply critical. Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, called it “another inane, haphazard decision by President Trump and his chaotic administration,” saying it makes both allies and adversaries doubt whether US commitments are negotiable and amounts to punishing South Korea “for no reason beyond Trump’s ego.” Senator Mark Kelly said the drills aren’t symbolic but the operational basis for the alliance functioning in a crisis, noting North and South Korea remain technically at war and calling the move “shortsighted and a mistake.” Experts quoted include Leif-Eric Easley of Ewha University, who said the exercises are essential for readiness and that scaling back “can damage alliance coordination” and “weaken deterrence,” for only “marginal” cost savings and “doubtful” diplomatic benefit. Cheong Seong-chang of the Seoul-based Sejong Institute suggested Trump could go further at a future summit with Kim, potentially suspending exercises entirely or cutting US troop levels without consulting Seoul, and argued South Korea should reduce its security dependence on Washington over time.

What’s the wider context?

The US-South Korea alliance dates to the 1953 Mutual Defense Treaty following the Korean War armistice, with about 28,500 American troops stationed in South Korea today under a combined command structure and a US nuclear umbrella pledge. This isn’t unprecedented: after Trump’s first 2018 summit with Kim, that year’s Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise was cancelled and other drills suspended or scaled back, before being redesigned and resumed. This time, the scale-back comes just days after North Korea test-fired ballistic missiles banned under UN resolutions, and amid what the administration’s own 2026 Annual Threat Assessment calls an “increasingly confident North Korean regime,” with reports that Pyongyang is gaining battlefield experience and technology transfers via its support for Russia in the Ukraine war.

Sources

• Al Jazeera — Trump says talking to North Korea’s Kim makes the south safer · Why did Trump scale back war games with South Korea?
• The Guardian World — Trump says Kim Jong-un has responded to his overtures when asked about scaling back US drills with South Korea – as it happened · Trump’s move to gut South Korea alliance is ‘inane, haphazard decision’, lawmakers say · Trump orders cuts to South Korea joint drills despite warnings about Kim regime
• BBC World — BBC breaks down Trump’s latest shift on North and South Korea · Trump says US to reduce military drills with South Korea after it stayed out of Iran war
• Sky News World

Featured photo: Mark Taylor from Rockville, USA via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)