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· collected 2026-08-19 · by Morgan Phillips
Story summary
US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that he would be scaling back US military exercises with South Korea, citing his "very good" relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and claiming that the exercises were expensive. The annual drills, known as Ulchi Freedom Shield, were originally scheduled to run from August 13-27, but have been reduced in scope and scale at the direction of Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The decision has caused alarm among South Koreans, who rely heavily on the US for their security, as well as other US allies in the region. North Korea has been threatening a "new level" of nuclear deterrence in response to the planned drills, which Pyongyang state media called "a rehearsal for an invasion war."
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, who had previously floated the idea of reducing joint military exercises with the US as a tool for drawing North Korea back to the table, has renewed his calls for wartime operational control of the military and progress on South Korea's nuclear submarine programme.
The decision to cut short the drills marks a significant shift in Trump's approach to North Korea, which he had previously criticized for its missile tests and threats. Trump added that US involvement in the exercises would send a "signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile" to North Korea, which he said has been "unthreatening and respectful" to his presidency.
The move has also sparked concerns among analysts and US senators about Trump's willingness to prioritize North Korean denuclearization over South Korea's security. Some have criticized Trump's approach as naive, citing the recent spate of North Korean missile tests and threats.
Written for “US-South Korea Military Tensions” on 2026-08-31,
grounded in this article and the 21 other(s) covering the same event.
President Donald Trump is scaling back major joint military exercises with South Korea after Seoul declined to support U.S. operations against Iran, a sharp U-turn with an ally his administration publicly praised just days prior.
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administration → scale → ally
The move came just three days after Secretary of State Marco Rubio called South Korea an "indispensable partner" and said the allies had entered a "historic new era" of cooperation following Trump’s state visit to Seoul last fall.
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allies → come → Seoul
Victor Cha, the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Fox News Digital that Trump appears to see the drill reduction as a win-win for the U.S. — pressure Seoul to move faster on investment and burden-sharing while offer Kim incentives to reopen diplomacy.
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Trump → tell → diplomacy
"He sees this as a two for one," Cha said.
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Cha → see → one
"A combination of things led to Trump's frustration, that South Korea is not moving the trade and investment framework agreement on investments faster and his desire to meet the North Korean leader."
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Korea → lead → leader
Behind the administration’s recent praise of Seoul, strains had been building, potentially leading to the mixed-messaging.
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strains → build → messaging
Trump has grown frustrated with the slow rollout of a $350 billion trade and investment framework, commercial disputes involving American companies and what he sees as South Korea’s unwillingness to do more for U.S. priorities, Cha detailed.
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Cha → grow → priorities
"That combination of things led Trump to make a decision where he said, 'Hey, yeah, I'm gonna scale down these exercises maybe it'll get a response from Kim Jong-un.
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it → lead → un
At the same time, the South Koreans are rich, they should be doing their own exercises and like we should not be paying for them.'
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we → do → them
"
The deal would bring substantial South Korean investment to the United States while offering Seoul expanded cooperation on shipbuilding and nuclear-powered submarines.
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deal → bring → shipbuilding
But the first investments have moved slowly, despite Trump’s earlier threat to raise tariffs on South Korean goods by 25%, while parallel agreements with Japan are advancing faster.
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agreements → move → Japan
The pressure on Seoul comes as Trump returns to another unfinished project from his first term: diplomacy with Kim.
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Trump → come → Kim
Trump’s tumultuous relationship with the North Korean leader swung between threats of "fire and fury" and historic summits.
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relationship → swing → fire
The first was in Singapore in 2018 and the second in Hanoi in 2019, which was followed by a third meeting at the Korean demilitarized zone later that year.
The formal encounters made Trump the first sitting U.S. president to meet a North Korean leader, but the diplomacy ended without a denuclearization deal after negotiations collapsed over the terms of sanctions relief and North Korea’s nuclear program.
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negotiations → follow → relief
In announcing the exercise cut, Trump wrote that the drills "send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile" to North Korea, which he said "has been unthreatening and respectful" during his second term.
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he → announce → term
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for more details.
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House → respond → details
A War Department official said the department is "actively working on executing the Commander-in-Chief’s directive," while declining to offer details.
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department → say → details
Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, has said her brother retains good memories of Trump, but North Korea has expanded its nuclear and missile capabilities since the first summits while deepening its ties with Russia and China.
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Korea → say → Russia
Pyongyang has not ruled out returning to diplomacy, but it has also signaled that Washington would first need to abandon its demand for North Korean denuclearization.
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Washington → rule → denuclearization
"Where they haven't ruled out negotiations with the U.S., but they have basically said, unless the U.S. accepts their nuclear status, there isn't really a reason to talk," Jenny Town, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center and director of 38 North, told Fox News Digital.
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Town → rule → Digital
The drills are more than a show of force, they are where American and South Korean troops practice how to fight together if deterrence fails — from moving forces and equipment to sharing targeting information and operating under a single command structure.
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deterrence → practice → structure
Before Trump’s order, this year’s Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise was set to incorporate lessons from the war in Ukraine, including drone warfare, GPS disruption and the prospect of losing communications in a crisis.
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exercise → set → crisis
Those are no longer theoretical concerns for the alliance: North Korean troops have fought alongside Russian forces and brought battlefield experience back to the peninsula.
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troops → fight → peninsula
"The exercises are the biggest military maneuver exercise that the Alliance does every year," Cha said.
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Cha → do → that
"There's nothing that can substitute for live fire and military exercises."
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that → be → fire
Town said the last-minute nature of the decision risks creating uncertainty inside the alliance.
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nature → say → alliance
"This last minute haphazard way of sending this message really sends a lot of mixed messages, but also creates a lot of angst in the U.S.-South Korea alliance," she said.
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she → send → alliance
Trump’s order drew bipartisan criticism on Capitol Hill.
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order → draw → Hill
Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said: "North and South Korea are still technically at war."
"Our ability to help defend our ally against the North Koreans is because our forces are well trained and able to coordinate with the South Koreans.
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forces → say → Koreans
Hollowing out these joint exercises is shortsighted and a mistake," the retired U.S. Navy Captain added.
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Captain → hollow → exercises
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, a Republican, said reducing the drills "does nothing more than free up thousands of North Korea's troops to support Putin's systematic kidnapping, torture, rape, and murder of innocent Ukrainian citizens.
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reducing → say → citizens
"
"President Trump is playing right into Kim Jong-Un's hands," Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., claimed on X.
"Our alliance with South Korea is critical to U.S. security and announcing a decision to unilaterally scale back joint exercises, over social media, all while touting a "very good relationship" with Kim, is a gross miscalculation," she added.
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she → play → Kim
"Trump is rewarding a regime that sends weapons and troops to fight for Russia and has a long history of cooperation with Iran.
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that → reward → Iran
Undermining our allies while making concessions to our adversaries is not a show of strength—it only emboldens those who threaten us.:"
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who → undermine → us
