Trump cut the U.S.–South Korea war drills in half without telling Seoul first

The United States cut Exercise Ulchi Freedom Shield — the larger of the two combined war drills the U.S. and South Korea run every year to practice fighting the North — from 11 days to five, ending Friday, Aug. 21 instead of Thursday, Aug. 27. The live field training went with it: some events canceled, others moved onto computers. South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said his government learned about it the same way the public did: "Neither our government nor U.S. officials knew what President Trump wrote on his Truth Social. We were not notified in advance." Trump said he has been in contact with Kim Jong Un and predicted the two would meet later this year. He also put a number on the North's arsenal: "He has 57 very powerful nuclear weapons. He's gonna be fine." Kim's sister, Kim Yo Jong, said she knew of no such contact and that Pyongyang was not interested either way. "The provocative, aggressive nature of the drills won't change even though their duration and size were reduced," she said.

What the six cut days were supposed to test:

• Phase 2, the counterattack half set for Aug. 24–27, was cut outright. It is the only stretch where a South Korean four-star general commands the combined force — the one test of whether Seoul is ready to take wartime command of its own troops from a U.S. general.
• Fourteen field training events of battalion size or larger were planned around the drill, already down from 17 in 2025. Those are being sharply curtailed, with the details still under negotiation.
• About 18,000 South Korean troops were slated to take part, alongside some of the 28,500 U.S. personnel permanently stationed in the country.