Kim Jong Un

SEOUL, Aug. 19 (UPI) — South Korea and the United States will significantly scale down their ongoing Ulchi Freedom Shield joint military exercise, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday, cutting it short by almost a week following an order by U.S. President Donald Trump.

“South Korea and the United States have agreed to make partial adjustments to the exercise period and scale at the suggestion of the U.S. side,” the JCS said in a statement.

“First, it was decided to adjust the duration of this UFS exercise to run from the 17th to the 21st,” the statement said. “Second, it was decided to conduct the combined field maneuver training on a reduced scale.”

The allies are discussing specific details of the field training reduction, the JCS added.

Ulchi Freedom Shield began Monday and was originally scheduled to run through Aug. 27.

The move comes after Trump called for the drills to be “substantially reduced” in a Truth Social post Sunday, saying they are expensive and “send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile” to North Korea.

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said Wednesday morning that Seoul was not given advance notice of Trump’s directive.

“Neither our government nor officials within the U.S. government had any prior knowledge of what President Trump revealed on Truth Social,” Cho said at a parliamentary hearing. “Consequently, we were not notified beforehand.”

In his Sunday post, Trump said Pyongyang “has been unthreatening and respectful” while he has been in the White House.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump touted his personal relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying Kim had “always treated me with great respect.”

“I understand him. He understands me,” Trump said, adding that Kim had responded to his requests for talks but providing no further details.

The Wall Street Journal, citing U.S. officials, reported Tuesday that Trump is pushing aides to arrange a meeting with Kim as soon as this fall, although no official planning is underway. Trump has privately discussed holding talks during his next trip to Asia, which could come in November when world leaders gather for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China.

North Korea, meanwhile, has not publicly responded to Trump’s overture. In a commentary published earlier Wednesday, before Seoul announced the reduction, the state-run Korean Central News Agency criticized Ulchi Freedom Shield as “frantic exercises” pushing the Korean Peninsula to the “threshold of a war.”

The commentary threatened that Pyongyang would continue exercising its “right to self-defence” to counter what it called military threats from the allies.

North Korea frequently condemns U.S.-South Korean military drills as rehearsals for an invasion.

Trump similarly called for suspending or scaling back the exercises in his first term, when he pursued direct diplomacy with Kim that included summits in Singapore and Hanoi and a brief meeting at the DMZ.

After the 2018 Singapore summit, Trump surprised observers by announcing that the United States would halt what he called “provocative” joint military exercises with South Korea. That year’s Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise was canceled, while several subsequent drills were reduced in scale.

WASHINGTON — The only remaining U.S. aircraft carrier patrolling the Pacific departed Asia through Singapore last week en route to the Middle East, marking the latest step in a steady drawdown of American military assets across the region.

An armada of naval forces, alongside a constellation of air-defense and missile capabilities, has been removed from a theater the Trump administration said just last year would be the battleground of the coming century.

And now, President Trump’s surprise decision this week to curtail military exercises with South Korea has further fueled anxiety across Asia, where Washington’s closest allies fear violent consequences from a vacuum of American power.

Trump said his decision to withdraw U.S. participation from the annual military drills was de-escalatory, claiming they would needlessly provoke North Korea’s dictator, Kim Jong Un, with whom he has recently been in touch.

But he also blamed Seoul for its decision to not take part in his war with Iran.

“I said, ‘Would you like to give us a little hand?’ ” Trump told reporters. “He said, ‘No thanks,’ and I said, ‘Wait a minute — we have 39,000 soldiers over there, guarding you from Kim Jong Un, your next-door neighbor, and you’re not going to help us.’ ”

“That’s strange,” Trump added. “We can’t go around and protect all of these countries, especially when they’re not there to help us.”

South Korea’s president, Lee Jae Myung, responded to Trump’s last-minute decision to pull back from the drills with a degree of alarm.

“From now on, we must prepare measures with even the worst-case scenario in mind,” Lee said, “on the premise that the Middle East situation may be prolonged.”

It was the latest jolt to South Korea’s confidence in an alliance that has formed a cornerstone of Washington’s defense strategy in Asia since the end of World War II.

The Pentagon has kept its THAAD missile-defense batteries on the Korean peninsula. But in March, it moved some of the system’s radars and forward-positioned interceptors toward the Middle East, as the Iran war strained U.S. missile-defense stocks. Analysts estimate the conflict has consumed more than 40% of the Pentagon’s THAAD interceptor inventory.

The diversion was accompanied by the redeployment of dozens of combat and dry-cargo ships, mine countermeasure vessels, and guided-missile destroyers out of the region, ahead of the departure of the strike group centered on the nuclear-powered USS George Washington, which is now on its way to the Middle East.

Other U.S. allies in the region reacted swiftly to Trump’s pullback from the Korean exercises.

The Australian government said it remained “deeply concerned” with North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, while Japan’s defense minister, Shinjiro Koizumi, warned of historic stakes.

“As Japan faces the most severe and complicated security environment in the post-war era, the cooperation among Japan, the United States and South Korea is critical to the peace and stability of the region,” Koizumi said in a statement.

And Beijing has been quick to capitalize on the vacuum.

China’s Foreign Ministry mocked that the United States “has become addicted to quitting groups and scrapping treaties,” while its military began installing permanent infrastructure in Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone within days of the George Washington’s departure.

“The current international landscape has once again proven that only by ensuring the effective operation of the multilateral system can we prevent the spread of the law of the jungle,” said Mao Ning, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, “and keep the international order from being dominated by the logic that ‘might makes right and force represents justice.’”

Speaking with journalists in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said that his communication with Kim was “making things safer” in the region.

He did not offer details on their conversations.

“Kim Jong Un has always treated me with great respect,” Trump said, confirming that the North Korean leader had replied to his overtures.

“I understand him,” Trump added. “He understands me.”

SEOUL, Aug. 18 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has responded to his overtures for talks, one day after he ordered a sweeping reduction in U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises, citing his “very good relationship” with Kim.

Trump made the remarks during a press availability in the Oval Office, fueling speculation that his directive could be aimed at reopening dialogue with Pyongyang.

Asked why Kim had not responded to his requests for a conversation, Trump replied, “How do you know he hasn’t responded?”

“He has,” Trump said when pressed. He declined to elaborate, saying only that developments were “very positive.”

Trump went on to tout his personal relationship with Kim, saying the North Korean leader had “always treated me with great respect.”

“I understand him. He understands me,” Trump said. “He didn’t like Biden. He didn’t like Obama. He didn’t like anybody, but I get along with him very well.”

In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump said the allies’ Ulchi Freedom Shield drills, which began Monday, are expensive and “send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile” to North Korea. He said Pyongyang “has been unthreatening and respectful” while he has been in the White House.

Trump also noted that South Korea declined his request to help with the denuclearization of Iran.

“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!” he wrote.

In a text message to reporters on Monday, an official with Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the Ulchi Freedom Shield drills had started as scheduled.

“The UFS exercise is proceeding as planned,” the official said.

Later in the day, the presidential Blue House released a statement saying that Seoul was “paying close attention” to Trump’s comments, adding that it hoped friendly relations between Washington and Pyongyang would lead to meaningful peace talks between the two countries.

“To this end, we will exert necessary diplomatic efforts as a pacemaker under close cooperation with the United States,” the statement said.

The Blue House added that it has actively participated in international discussions for a cease-fire in Iran and freedom of passage in the Strait of Hormuz and is “closely discussing practical and military contribution measures with the U.S. side.”

As of Tuesday, it was not clear what aspects of the exercise would be reduced under Trump’s order. In a statement reported by news agency Yonhap, the Pentagon said it “is actively working on executing the Commander-in-Chief’s directive.”

The order drew criticism from Democrats in Congress, who warned that reducing the exercises could undermine military readiness and weaken confidence in U.S. security commitments.

“When President Trump cuts military exercises to flatter a dictator or punishes South Korea for declining to join a war he started, all of our allies — and adversaries — think that America’s commitments are negotiable,” Sen. Jack Reed, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement. “Kim Jong Un has won a propaganda victory and South Korea, one of our strongest allies, has been punished for no reason beyond Trump’s ego.”

Peter Lee, a research fellow at the Seoul-based Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said Trump’s order reflects his transactional approach to the alliance and longstanding skepticism about the costs of U.S. military commitments in South Korea.

“This latest directive should also be seen as a reminder that President Trump still has many cards he can play to pressure South Korea,” Lee told UPI. “The task for the Lee administration is therefore how to reduce this ‘unfaithful ally’ narrative that President Trump periodically returns to and instead lean into the ‘model ally’ framing that others such as [Defense] Secretary Hegseth have touted.”

Victor Cha, Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Trump’s move went beyond his repeated public overtures to Kim and appeared aimed at drawing the North Korean leader back to the negotiating table.

“This is really the first concrete action he’s taken to try to entice Kim, and he’s used the timing of these exercises as the way to do it,” Cha said during a CSIS discussion Monday.

Pyongyang has not yet publicly responded to Trump’s announcement, and Cha said he did not expect an immediate reaction.

“I’m sure it’s a message that’s been heard … but I don’t think the North Koreans are going to respond right away,” he said. “I think they’re going to bide their time and wait a little bit.”

Trump similarly called for suspending or scaling back the exercises since his first term, when he pursued direct diplomacy with Kim that included summits in Singapore and Hanoi and a brief meeting at the DMZ.

After the Singapore summit in 2018, Trump surprised observers by announcing that the United States would halt what he called “provocative” joint military exercises with South Korea. That year’s Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise was canceled, while several subsequent drills were reduced in scale.

In his White House press availability, Trump denied that he was prioritizing North Korea over Washington’s allies in South Korea.

“I’m actually making it much safer,” he said in response to a question.

Trump also elaborated on his request for South Korea’s assistance with the war in Iran, saying he raised the issue in a recent call with President Lee Jae Myung.

“I said, ‘Would you like to give us a little hand? We don’t need help with Iran, but if you’d like, give us a hand with Iran.’ He said, ‘No thanks,'” Trump said.

Trump said he viewed Seoul’s refusal as a matter of “fairness,” citing the cost of maintaining U.S. forces in South Korea and his longstanding push for Seoul to shoulder more of the expense.

“We have 39,000 soldiers over there guarding you from Kim Jong Un, your next-door neighbor, and you are not going to help us on a very easy military operation in Iran,” he said.

The United States has roughly 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea.

Later Monday, Trump posted a meme of Kim on his Truth Social account. The image showed the North Korean leader surrounded by military officials and speaking into a telephone, with the caption: “Hey Donald, we cool … right?”

Aug. 16 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday he ordered the Pentagon to scale back its joint military exercises with South Korea, saying that Seoul declined to help the denuclearization of Iran.

In a social media post, Trump said the drills scheduled to begin this week are expensive and “send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile” to North Korea. He said North Korea “has been unthreatening and respectful” white he has been in the White House.

“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!” Trump wrote.

The annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises, involving 18,000 South Korean troops over 11 days, were to strengthen readiness against threats from North Korea and began Monday to run through Aug. 27.

North Korea, which has long condemned the exercises as preparations for invasion, last week denounced the scheduled drills, describing them as a provocation that would raise tensions in the region.

South Korea has yet to response to Trump’s surprise and last-minute direction.

On Saturday, Trump posted a June 2019 photo of his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Korean Demilitarized Zone. He wrote that he gets along “GREAT!” with Kim “despite the unfriendly look on this particular picture.”

Pyongyang conducts second weapons test in less than a week as Seoul, Washington gear up for annual military exercises.

North Korea has launched a ballistic missile towards the Sea of Japan, according to Seoul and Tokyo, marking the second such test from Pyongyang in less than a week.

The launch on Wednesday came as South Korea and the United States announced plans to hold their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield military drills starting on August 17.

“Our military detected at around 6:00 am [21:00 GMT Tuesday] a ballistic missile launched by North Korea from the Wonsan area towards the East Sea,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a message to reporters, referring to a body of water also known as the Sea of Japan.

South Korea’s military said the missile flew more than 700km (435 miles).

It said it has boosted its surveillance posture and that it was closely exchanging information on the launch with Washington and Tokyo.

Japan’s Defence Ministry said on social media that the suspected ballistic missile had “already fallen”, without providing further details.

“North Korea has never simply let a South Korea-US joint military exercise pass without a response,” Lim Eul-chul, a North Korea expert at Kyungnam University, told the AFP news agency.

“This is a message that Pyongyang is closely watching the upcoming drills and could stage a provocation if it deems one necessary.”

US-South Korea drills

The Ulchi Freedom Shield training is to start on Monday and run for 11 days. Its scale will be similar to previous years, with 18,000 South Korean soldiers taking part, according to South Korea’s military.

North Korea has in previous years denounced the exercises as a rehearsal for invasion, and responded to the drills with weapons tests and harsh rhetoric. Seoul and Washington, however, have repeatedly said their training is defensive in nature.

On August 6, South Korea, the US and Japan detected the launch of a short-range ballistic missile from North Korea in what was Pyongyang’s first ballistic weapons testing activity since late June.

North Korea did not confirm the reported launch.

Pyongyang has ratcheted up its criticism of Tokyo’s defence policy, issuing statements at least seven times since July.

On Tuesday, North Korean state media condemned Japan’s latest defence white paper as a “re-invasion-minded” document, saying it “groundlessly described” Pyongyang as ⁠the greatest strategic challenge to “justify its reckless arms buildup”.

North Korea has also been accused of playing a more active role in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that Moscow had used a North Korean ballistic missile during an attack that killed seven workers at a Ukrainian steel plant in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia.

North Korea has released photos of Kim Jong Un inspecting huge munitions at a weapons factory ahead of Chinese president Xi Jinping’s visit. Pyongyang has ordered missile production capacity to be doubled in the next five years.