U.S.-South Korea Drills Cut

U.S. Cuts Joint Military Drills With South Korea

President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. Defense Department to reduce joint military exercises with South Korea, calling the drills “hostile” toward North Korea. South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise would end six days early, on 21 August, at the request of the United States. The move comes as Trump seeks talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and has drawn mixed reactions in Seoul, where President Lee Jae Myung had previously backed stronger homegrown defenses.