SEOUL, August 19 (AJP) - South Korea had no advance word that President Donald Trump would order this week's combined military exercises cut back, and neither did officials in his own administration, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday. The move shortened the exercise by nearly a week, underscoring a sudden and highly unusual shift in alliance operations.
Cho Hyun told the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee that the government learned of the decision the same way the public did. He noted the revelation came entirely from Trump's post on Truth Social. "What President Trump wrote on Truth Social was not known in advance to our government, and it was not known to United States government officials either," Cho said. "So we received no prior notification."
Trump wrote Sunday evening (local time) that he had instructed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to substantially reduce the exercises, saying it was too late to cancel them outright. He called the drills costly and said they sent a signal that was totally inappropriate and hostile to North Korea. He also tied the decision to Seoul's refusal to help the U.S. against Iran.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff announced Wednesday that Ulchi Freedom Shield will end Friday rather than Aug. 27, cutting the exercise roughly in half at Washington's request. It is the first time a major combined exercise has been altered after it was already underway.
Field training will also be scaled back, with the two militaries still working out the details. A U.S. defense official said some live events had been canceled outright and others converted to simulations, adding that essential readiness was preserved.
The shortened schedule drops the second half of the exercise, which is a phase built around a counteroffensive. North Korea has for years denounced that specific segment as a rehearsal for invasion.
About 18,000 South Korean troops began the exercise Monday alongside U.S. forces. The mobilization proceeded just hours after the social media post appeared.
Cho declined to describe the cut as something imposed on Seoul. Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back had been in close consultation with his U.S. counterparts since the post went up, Cho said, and that consultation was the reason he did not regard the outcome as a unilateral notification.
Ahn told the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee the same day that no official in either government had known what was coming. He added that he had been in continuous discussion with the U.S. side since.
Cho also predicted the reduction would not slow the transfer of wartime operational control of South Korean forces, which reverts to Seoul from Washington under a conditions-based timetable. Because the United States asked for the cut, he said, it cannot then cite the cut as grounds for further delay. President Lee Jae Myung said Tuesday the transfer should proceed during his term without disruption.
Trump said Monday at the White House that Kim Jong-un had responded to his overtures, calling the exchanges very positive. Recounting his call with Lee Jae Myung, Trump said the U.S. keeps 39,000 soldiers in South Korea guarding it from Kim Jong-un. In reality, about 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in the country.
Cho called the opening with Pyongyang a shift into a new phase. The government had made every preparation to get a channel to North Korea running again, he said, and would work closely with Washington so that the opening was not wasted.
He said the ministry was consulting immediately with U.S. counterparts to keep the alliance from weakening. This was a direct response to concern that Washington might deal with Pyongyang over Seoul's head.
Cho also welcomed the proposal from President Lee, made in his Liberation Day address on Aug. 15, for multilateral talks to formally end the Korean War. Cho said he believed it would prove an important breakthrough in relations with the North.
Seoul has told Washington where it stands on the outreach to Kim Jong-un and has asked to be briefed on the state of U.S. contacts with Pyongyang. Cho said no reply had come.
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