Breaking: Trump orders Defense Secretary Hegseth to "significantly reduce" U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises, calling them "inappropriate and hostile" toward South Korea's neighboring countries.

This is his first public criticism of the drills during his second term and an order to scale them down—despite the fact that U.S.-South Korea joint exercises have spanned decades.

"Ulchi Freedom Shield" is conducted under the 1953 U.S.-South Korea Mutual Defense Treaty and serves as an annual defense exercise between the two nations.

This reduction marks a major shift with ripple effects across the entire Asia-Pacific region.

Trump’s stated reason is the high cost of the exercises and the inappropriate signal they send to friendly neighboring countries.

This move comes as a sudden halt: South Korean officials had just announced that a 10-day joint drill involving around 18,000 South Korean troops was scheduled to begin today, including scenarios involving drones, GPS jamming, electronic warfare, and cyberattacks.

It’s too late to cancel entirely, but the scale will be drastically reduced.

From his wording, this appears to be a unilateral decision by Trump, not the result of prior consultation with South Korea.

The real motive remains unclear—not merely what Trump claims, or at least not solely due to concerns about "inappropriate signals."

Sudden demands to adjust the size of military drills seem to express dissatisfaction with South Korea, including slow progress on promised U.S. investments and reluctance to support America’s potential military actions against Iran.

This explains the abrupt pivot in Trump’s post, where he casually notes, “maybe unrelated,” yet specifically points out South Korea’s president recently being unwilling to join efforts pushing for Iran’s nuclear disarmament.

Coincidentally, South Korea’s Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy, Kim Jung-gwan, is currently visiting Washington, discussing investment in the U.S. and resolving key bottlenecks—expected to announce the first project by late August.

Soon, the U.S. is set to release tariff measures targeting excess capacity under Section 301 of the Trade Act. Both sides are expected to discuss additional tariffs. South Korea fears these rates might exceed the agreed-upon 15% from previous U.S.-South Korea trade negotiations.

Viewed this way, Trump’s timing suggests coordination with the ongoing South Korea-U.S. investment talks—a strategic retreat on military matters to gain leverage in economic and financial areas.

Specifically naming the South Korean president’s lack of cooperation amounts to veiled pressure: if South Korea doesn’t "bleed" financially to help Trump’s agenda, more escalations—cutting off support, dismantling bridges—are still ahead. Proceed with caution.

However, should South Korea’s semiconductor industry collapse, the U.S. economy would at least limp on one leg—turning this into a game of who blinks first.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1873733191571459/

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone.