Arabic version: مناورات الولايات المتحدة وكوريا الجنوبية تنتهي قبل ستة أيام

According to BBC News, South Korea’s annual joint military drills with the United States will be shortened by six days following a request from Washington. Seoul’s defence ministry said the 2026 Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise will now end on 21 August instead of 27 August.

The ministry said the exercise’s “period and scale” had been adjusted because of a “proposal of the US side”. The combined field training component will also be partially reduced in scale, although Seoul said specific details remain under discussion.

The change follows President Donald Trump’s announcement that he planned to curtail exercises with South Korea, citing his “very good” relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun told a parliamentary hearing that neither South Korean nor US officials had known in advance about Trump’s plans.

Trump said on Truth Social that the exercises were costly and sent a signal he described as “totally inappropriate and hostile”. Speaking at the Oval Office on Monday, he linked his decision to South Korea’s refusal to assist the US in an operation involving Iran. Military leaders had said last week that the drills would be similar in scale to previous years, with about 18,000 South Korean soldiers taking part. About 28,500 US military personnel are stationed in South Korea.