Geopolitics · Monday, 17 August 2026
Trump orders the military exercises with South Korea to be sharply cut back
In a post on Truth Social on Sunday, Donald Trump wrote that the exercises are costly and send a signal that is "totally inappropriate and hostile" to North Korea, which he described as respectful during his time in the White House. He said it was too late to cancel them and that he had therefore instructed defence secretary Pete Hegseth to "substantially reduce" them. The Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise is due to run for eleven days from 17 to 27 August with 18,000 South Korean soldiers, and South Korea's defence ministry said it would proceed as scheduled.