Trump Cuts US-South Korea Drills Citing Iran Snub
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- Trump announced on Truth Social the US will 'substantially reduce' joint military exercises with South Korea, citing his 'very good relationship' with Kim Jong Un and slamming the drills as 'inappropriate and hostile' and costly to the US.
- South Korea's presidential Blue House said it is reviewing Trump's comments, though Seoul had earlier confirmed the 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises would proceed 'as scheduled' with about 18,000 South Korean troops and 28,500 American military personnel participating.
- North Korea conducted ballistic missile tests earlier this month in defiance of the UN, and on Friday its foreign ministry condemned the joint drills as 'a rehearsal for an aggressive war.'
- Ewha University professor Leif-Eric Easley warned scaling back the drills would damage alliance coordination, slow South Korea's path to greater self-defense responsibility, and weaken deterrence against Asian conflicts, calling cost savings 'marginal.'
- Trump previously suspended the exercises entirely in 2018 during first-term denuclearization talks with Kim and scaled them back again in 2020 during Covid; he has also expressed displeasure with Japan, France, and the UK for not joining US Iran operations.
- South Korea committed $350bn in US investment earlier this year to ease tensions, while Seoul's president last week proposed talks with Pyongyang to formally end the Korean War, which has been technically active since the 1953 armistice.
Why it matters: Trump's reversal came less than 24 hours after military leaders publicly confirmed the 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield drill with 18,000 South Korean troops, leaving Seoul scrambling to reconcile its public commitment with the president's last-minute pivot. Experts warn cost savings are marginal while deterrence against North Korea — which just conducted UN-banned missile tests — suffers, and Trump is openly tying US alliance security to allied participation in his separate Iran conflict.
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