Tensions with Seoul
South Korea ends military exercise early after pressure from Trump
Updated August 19, 2026 – 10:26 amReading time: 2 minutes
The joint military exercises between the USA and South Korea will be significantly shortened. Donald Trump’s course towards North Korea is causing tensions with Seoul.
Donald Trump criticizes the cooperation between South Korean and US soldiers. On Wednesday, both countries announced that this year’s joint exercises will be shortened from 11 days to five. The military exercises entitled “Ulchi Freedom Shield”, which have been running since Monday, were originally planned to last until August 27th, but are now scheduled to end on August 21st.
The South Korean government publicly describes the restrictions on joint military maneuvers imposed by President Donald Trump as a means of pressure by the USA. Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said on Wednesday that Trump’s actions appeared to be at least partly aimed at putting pressure on the government in Seoul. So should South Korea in support of the USA brought about in the Iran war and urged to hasten investment projects in the USA.
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South Korea sees Trump’s move as a means of applying pressure
US President Donald Trump had already said this in a post on the online platform over the weekend Truth Social announced that the joint military exercise with South Korea would be significantly smaller – because there was no longer enough time to cancel it completely. He referred to his supposedly “very good relationship” with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un. The military maneuvers sent a “totally inappropriate and hostile signal” to a country that – as long as he was president – had posed no threat and behaved with respect, Trump wrote.
According to a report by the South Korean public broadcaster KBS, the armed forces of both countries are expected to defend themselves against a simulated attack, as in previous years North Korea practice. However, the previously planned counter-offensive was completely canceled.Span
Regardless of the latest developments, North Korea’s state media reacted with sharp criticism to the military exercises that have been ongoing since Monday. Enemy states that violate North Korea’s sovereignty will be “targeted at any time by our devastating retaliatory measures,” said an article in the state news agency KCNA, which acts as the mouthpiece of the power apparatus in Pyongyang.
US newspaper: Trump wants to meet Kim in the fall
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed US officials, reported that Trump wanted to meet Kim this fall. There are no official plans yet. A meeting between the two could therefore take place in November, when heads of state and government from all over the world meet at the meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Community (Apec) in Shenzhen, China. The summit is scheduled for November 18-19.
Trump met Kim several times during his first term in office. After a first summit in Singapore in 2018, the second meeting between the two heads of state the following year in Hanoi ended in a scandal: Kim left before the end of the official program. The background was a conflict in the negotiations over North Korea’s nuclear disarmament.
