South Korea and the U.S. will cut their joint military exercises in half
South Korea and the United States will cut the duration of their annual joint military exercises, Ulchi Freedom Shield, by about half. The South Korean military said the exercises will run from August 17 to 21, although they were originally scheduled to end on August 27.
CNBC reports that the reduction came after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to significantly scale back the exercises. According to the network, he issued the order on Sunday evening U.S. time, on the eve of the exercises’ start on Monday.
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The allies had planned to conduct 14 joint field training programs in parallel with the command-post exercises. As reported by the Associated Press, approximately 18,000 South Korean troops were scheduled to participate in the command-post exercises.
Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump is pressuring his aides to arrange a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as early as this fall. According to the publication, the U.S. president discussed the possibility of a face-to-face meeting during his next trip to Asia, likely in November, when he is expected to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China. Trump and Kim Jong-un previously met in Singapore in 2018.
