President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to “significantly” scale back military exercises with South Korea, citing his “very good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his disappointment that South Korea will not support the United States in its war against Iran.
In a social media post Sunday, President Trump said the military drills, which were scheduled to begin Monday, were costly and “sent a totally inappropriate and hostile signal” to North Korea, adding that the drills were “non-threatening and conducted in a respectful manner” while Trump was in the White House.
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“Based on our very good relationship with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, I am not satisfied with the fact that the United States long ago agreed to participate in joint military exercises with South Korea,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social ahead of the annual military exercises from August 17 to 27.
He added that it was too late to cancel the exercise and that he had ordered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “drastically scale back” the exercise.
Referring to South Korea’s stance on the US-Israel war against Iran, the president said, “Recently, we asked the South Korean president if they would be willing to participate in the denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, “No thanks!””
So how significant is Washington’s reduction in military exercises with South Korea? And will it improve US-North Korea relations?
Here’s what we know:
What is the military training between the US and South Korea?
The Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise is an annual military exercise between Washington and Seoul that began in 1976 and is primarily focused on defending South Korea from North Korea.
The exercise is an annual summer event for the U.S. and Seoul military and features “live, virtual, constructive and field-based training involving personnel from a variety of military services,” according to the U.S. Forces Korea website.
In the past, Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, the Netherlands and New Zealand have also participated in the training.
The 11-day training exercise in South Korea will involve 18,000 South Korean soldiers and 28,500 U.S. military personnel stationed in the region.
The incident comes as thousands of North Korean soldiers are participating in Russia’s war against Ukraine, and the fear of these battle-hardened soldiers has raised concerns in South Korea.
Who is against training?
The US and South Korean governments maintain that the exercises are defensive in nature, but some regions of South Korea also protest the exercises every year. Earlier this month, members of the South Korean grassroots group Peace, Sovereignty and Unity Solidarity held a protest against UFS in front of the US Embassy in Seoul. They claim the exercises could increase military tensions in the region and risk nuclear war. Although North Korea possesses nuclear weapons, the United States has traditionally guaranteed South Korea’s nuclear security.
North Korea has also opposed the drills every year, testing its own missile technology and launching ballistic missiles toward South Korea during the drills.
North Korea last week condemned the drills as a provocation that would heighten tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
On August 12, North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan, Seoul and Tokyo said, marking the second launch by the country in less than a week.
And on Friday, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson asserted that military cooperation between Japan, the United States, and South Korea is turning into a nuclear alliance, and that North Korea will respond to new levels of threat with new levels of deterrence.
Why did President Trump call for a reduction in training?
Shortly after North Korea’s Foreign Ministry commented on this year’s exercises, President Trump posted a photo of himself standing next to Kim and wrote that the two leaders were on very good terms “despite the unfriendly facial expressions in this particular photo.”
Trump met with Kim three times during his first term.
But this is not the first time a U.S. president has opposed training. After meeting with Kim at a summit in Singapore in 2018 during his first term as president, Kim described military exercises as “expensive” and “provocative.” After the meeting, President Trump also said he would like to reduce the U.S. military presence on the Korean peninsula at some point in the future.
Analysts say President Trump’s desire to scale back military exercises this year is related to the ongoing war with Iran.
“President Trump seems genuinely upset by the fact that America’s allies and partners have not jumped to America’s aid in the conflict with Iran, so we should not discount President Trump’s side on this issue,” Christopher Green, senior consultant on the Korean Peninsula at the International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera.
According to President Trump, South Korea has rejected a US proposal to join the US in “denuclearizing the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
The South Korean government has not yet responded to this claim.
What did Korea say?
The South Korean government announced that military exercises with the United States will proceed as scheduled.
On Monday, after President Trump announced the exercise, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that the South Korean presidential office hopes the friendship between North Korea and the US leaders will lead to bilateral talks on peace on the Korean Peninsula.
“The government is paying close attention to President Trump’s social media messages,” a presidential spokesperson said in Seoul.
The spokesperson added, “We hope that the friendly relations between North Korea and the US leaders will lead to meaningful North Korea-US talks and the start of talks to promote peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.”
Last week, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung also proposed dialogue with North Korea to formally end the Korean War and replace the armistice with a peace regime, saying dialogue could also curb North Korea’s progress in its nuclear program.
Is President Trump’s announcement important?
President Trump’s announcement came days after North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan and amid the U.S.-Israel war against Iran.
Kim has significantly strengthened ties with Moscow, signing a tripartite alliance with Russia and China in Beijing in 2025.
Even as North Korea builds up its military and seeks partners, President Trump has repeatedly accused America’s North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies of not spending enough on defense or supporting a war against Iran.
Greene said President Trump’s announcement about military exercises could also be a signal he is trying to send to North Korea.
“It seems likely that he wants to resume dialogue as a way of reviving his fortunes on the international stage,” he said.
“I don’t think Kim Jong-un is that interested in that at this point. But we’ll never know as things progress,” he added.
According to the US State Department, although the US does not have diplomatic relations with North Korea, it has a policy of “ensuring peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula, including through the pursuit of complete denuclearization.”
During his first term in 2019, Trump sought assurances from Kim that North Korea would stop testing missiles and nuclear weapons. In return, North Korea demanded the lifting of economic sanctions, which ultimately led to an impasse in the negotiations.
Talks in Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, broke down after President Trump said sanctions could not be completely lifted. The two leaders have not met since then.
Green said there may be some dialogue going on between the United States and North Korea behind the scenes.
“This could mean that public consultations are about to resume, but we don’t know if that’s the case. As we know with President Trump, what he posts on Truth Social is not always well-timed or particularly strategic or effective,” he said.
“Maybe he was frustrated with South Korea and did this out of anger,” he added.
