Annual war games between South Korea and the United States will end around a week earlier than planned, both countries said, after US President Donald Trump ordered the “inappropriate and hostile” drills scaled back.
Trump said on Sunday that he had told the Pentagon to curtail the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises – a day before they started – citing his “good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Pyongyang’s state media criticised the drills yesterday as a “most immediate and open threat”, without mentioning Trump’s order.
Hours later, Seoul’s military said the drills would wrap up tomorrow, not on Aug 27 as originally planned.
“We have decided to adjust the UFS exercise period to run from the 17th to the 21st,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said yesterday.
The decision was made “at the suggestion of the US side”, it added.
The Pentagon said the “substantially reduced” drills would “preserve essential readiness and ... (cause) no degradation to US training objectives”.
The exercises are designed to prepare for a possible attack by North Korea.
They were understood to consist of two phases: the first, focused on defending against potential North Korean threats, was due to run until tomorrow; and the second, focused on a counteroffensive, from Aug 24 to 27.
The second phase is now understood to have been scrapped.
A South Korean military official said that Seoul viewed the decision as “unusual”.
The commentary by the state-run Korean Central News Agency said they pose “the most immediate and open threat” to North Korea and “regional security”.
Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said Pyongyang had deliberately avoided mentioning Trump.
“Showing awareness could suggest a degree of mutual understanding,” but feigning ignorance signals that the issue could become a key bargaining point in any future talks with Trump, Hong said. — AFP
