Seoul to Hold US-South Korea Drills as Scheduled Despite Trump’s Cuts Announcement

South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense announced on Monday that the annual U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises will take place on their scheduled dates, despite former U.S. President Donald Trump’s declaration over the weekend that he would significantly scale back American involvement.

A ministry spokesperson stated in a brief official statement responding to a question about Trump’s social media post: “We will proceed as previously announced and as scheduled.”

Trump’s announcement and stated rationale

Trump disclosed his decision on Sunday, asserting that he would substantially reduce joint military drills with South Korea — a key U.S. ally — citing his “very good” relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that he had directed U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to cut the scale of joint military training with South Korea.

He added: “These exercises are not only costly — with the United States bearing a large portion of these expenses (as usual) — but they also send a completely inappropriate and hostile signal to a country that has, for as long as Donald J. Trump was President, shown respect and posed no threat.”

Trump reiterated his instruction to reduce the drills “significantly,” while also referencing Seoul’s refusal to join U.S. efforts targeting Iran.

He wrote: “Although somewhat unrelated (?), I recently asked the President of South Korea whether they would like to join us in nuclear disarmament of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they replied, ‘No, thank you!’”

Trump noted that while it was “too late” to cancel the upcoming exercises entirely, he remained “unhappy” with the prior U.S. agreement to participate. He again referenced his “very good” relationship with Kim Jong Un.

Exercise timeline and official designation

The annual joint military drills — officially named Freedom Shield and Ulchi — are set to run from 17 to 27 August.