SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – 01/24/2025: A 24-hour Yonhap news broadcast at Seoul train station showing a news broadcast with archive footage of US President Donald Trump (L) with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (R). Kim Jae-Hwan | soup images | Light rocket | Getty Images South Korea’s military said Wednesday it would cut an annual joint military exercise with the United States by about half, after President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to scale it back and reportedly pushed to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as soon as this fall. The annual Ulchi Freedom Shield joint exercise period will be shortened from August 17 to 21, according to a statement from South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, noting that the decision was a proposal by the United States. The program was originally scheduled to conclude on August 27. The allies also decided to scale back some of the combined field training exercises, according to the military, and details are still under discussion between the two. The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Trump is pushing his advisers to arrange a meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un as soon as this fall, in an effort to revive personal diplomacy with the reclusive leader. The two met face to face during Trump’s first term, in 2018, in Singapore. Trump has privately discussed arranging an in-person meeting with Kim during his next trip to Asia, likely in November, the Journal said, when he is expected to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China. The developments came after Trump ordered Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to “substantially” scale back joint military exercises Sunday night in the United States, just before they begin on Monday. The moves mark the latest escalation in Trump’s rapprochement with Pyongyang, upsetting a 70-year alliance with South Korea already battered by the wartime transfer of operational control and Seoul’s refusal to back U.S. efforts in Iran. The allies had planned 14 combined field training programs in conjunction with this year’s command post exercise, which would include about 18,000 South Korean troops, according to the Associated Press. Allies are likely to respond to reduced U.S. involvement by bolstering their own military capabilities, increasing defense spending and forming new partnerships with neighbors, said Jennifer Kavanagh, senior fellow and director of military analysis at Defense Priorities. Defense autonomy would bring foreign policy independence and an end to the insecurity that comes with outsourcing national defense to a foreign power, he said. “Allies will become more self-sufficient over time and will need the United States less,” he added, pointing to increasing defense budgets and deepening cooperation between Japan, the Philippines, South Korea and Australia. For Washington, the benefits of a reduced footprint in Asia would “far outweigh” the loss of influence, Kavanagh said, as a smaller defense burden means more money for domestic priorities and a lower risk of a major war, including with China. — CNBC’s Jenny Lee contributed to this report. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.
