South Korea vows close US ties despite Trump push to scale back military drills
South Korea reaffirmed defense ties with Washington as joint drills began on schedule, despite US President Donald Trump's plans to significantly scale down future military exercises.
South Korea has reaffirmed its commitment to close security coordination with Washington after US President Donald Trump announced intentions to significantly scale down future bilateral military exercises. Trump criticized the maneuvers on social media, arguing they are overly expensive and send an inappropriately hostile message toward North Korea while referencing his personal relationship with Kim Jong Un.
Despite Trump's comments, the scheduled 11-day "Ulchi Freedom Shield" exercises commenced as planned, involving thousands of service members alongside slightly fewer field training operations than the previous year. Officials in Seoul confirmed the current drills are proceeding on schedule and reiterated that both allies will continue their close defense alignment moving forward.
Sources: Der Spiegel, DW, FAZ, ORF, Tagesschau.
Sources
- ORF — Trump will Militärübungen mit Südkorea verringern
- Tagesschau — Südkorea und USA beginnen gemeinsame Militärübung
- DW — Trump bremst Militärmanöver mit Südkorea aus
- Der Spiegel — Südkorea: Regierung setzt trotz Trump-Kritik auf enge Kooperation mit USA
- FAZ — USA unter Trump: Südkorea will sich mit den USA weiter „eng koordinieren“
Earlier coverage
- Aug 21, 2026, 04:00 AM UTCSouth Korea and US launch joint military drills despite Trump's push for cuts
- Aug 19, 2026, 02:30 AM UTCUS-South Korea military drills begin amid Trump push to scale back maneuvers
- Aug 18, 2026, 03:30 AM UTCTrump seeks to scale back joint military drills with South Korea