Trump Orders the Pentagon to Scale Back Major South Korea Military Drills

President Trump ordered the Pentagon on Aug. 16 to significantly scale back this year’s joint military exercises with South Korea, altering one of the most important annual routines in the U.S.-South Korea alliance just days after North Korea resumed missile testing.

What Trump Ordered

Trump said he had instructed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to ‘substantially reduce’ the drills, which were set to run 11 days and involve about 18,000 South Korean troops. The exercises had already been scheduled to begin this week, and Trump said it was ‘too late to cancel’ them outright, so he ordered them cut back rather than halted. The Pentagon has not detailed which portions will still go forward.

The Reasons He Gave

Trump cited the cost of the exercises and argued they ‘send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile’ toward North Korea, which he said had been ‘unthreatening and respectful’ during his presidency. He also pointed to frustration that South Korea had declined his request to help pressure Iran to denuclearize. The move echoes his first term, when he called similar drills ‘provocative’ and moved to pause them in 2018.

The Backdrop in Pyongyang

The order landed days after North Korea resumed ballistic missile testing, its first such launches since late June, and after Pyongyang denounced the planned exercises as ‘a rehearsal for an aggressive war.’ North Korea has long objected to the joint drills, which the United States and South Korea describe as defensive.

What Is Still Unsettled

For now, the exercises are reduced, not canceled, and the administration has not spelled out the final scope. The Pentagon has not yet detailed which parts of the exercises will proceed and which may be cut back, leaving open how far the alliance’s largest annual training will shrink this year.

References: PBS NewsHour