US President Donald Trump on Sunday (August 16) announced that the US would substantially scale back its annual joint military exercise with South Korea, a long-term ally, for not participating in the “Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
In a social media post, he also said that North Korea, by contrast, had been “unthreatening and respectful” to him. North Korea condemned the drills last week, calling it a provocation that heightens tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
South Korean joint chiefs of staff told Reuters that the drills started on Monday as scheduled. The latest development comes mere days after South Korean President Lee Jae Myung proposed talks with North Korea to officially end the Korean War.
Why has Trump sought to scale down the exercise?
Trump has long sought to scale back joint US-South Korean military exercises, and has also questioned the cost of the US military presence in the country. The US President has repeatedly expressed his disappointment with several of the US’ long-time allies not contributing military or logistical support to aid the US in its ongoing war with Iran.
Trump has previously objected to what he sees as excessive US military spending on South Korea’s defence, arguing that Seoul does not contribute enough towards the cost.
The exercises are an important part of the US-South Korea alliance, allowing their militaries to practise how they would operate together in the event of a conflict with North Korea. Seoul has therefore traditionally viewed regular exercises as necessary to maintaining military readiness and deterring an attack from the North.
Pyongyang has long taken the opposite view, describing US-South Korean exercises as rehearsals for an invasion. Trump has shown some sympathy for this argument: during his first term, he called the exercises “provocative” and suspended major drills after his first summit with Kim Jong Un in Singapore in 2018.
South Korea has attempted to appease the US President, committing $350 billion in investments in the US.
What are the Ulchi Freedom drills?
Ulchi Freedom Shield is an annual summertime exercise conducted by South Korea and the US to test their ability to respond jointly to a conflict or other security crisis on the Korean Peninsula. It combines computer-simulated command-post training with field exercises and South Korea’s government-led Ulchi civil defence exercise.
This year, about 18,000 South Korean troops are expected to participate alongside US forces. Personnel from 11 of the 18 member states of the United Nations Command (UNC) — the multinational body that oversees the 1953 armistice that halted hostilities of the Korean War — are also expected to participate. The exercise got its latest rebrand in 2022 when it was rechristened the Ulchi Freedom Shield to reflect the multifaceted nature of threats.
Why are the two Koreas still at war?
North Korea and South Korea have been in a state of war since 1953.
After Japan announced its intent to surrender in 1945, the Korean Peninsula, previously under its control, was divided into two: The Soviet and the Chinese communists propped up the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in the North, while the Americans supported the creation of the Republic of Korea in the South.
In 1950, North Korean forces under founder Kim Il Sung invaded the South, triggering the three-year-long Korean War. Despite making major initial gains, US troops helped the South fight back. Eventually, neither side secured a decisive victory, and an armistice was signed in 1953, leaving both sides technically still at war.
Since then, both Korean nations have spoken of “reunification”, by force if necessary. But the likely human and material cost of an all-out war has meant that the status quo has, by and large, prevailed. Since the 1970s, both sides have held negotiations towards achieving a “peaceful reunification”, with agreements in 2000, 2007, and 2018 significant in this regard. However, very little tangible progress has been made.
Meanwhile, North Korea has also pursued the development of nuclear weapons, inviting heavy sanctions from the UN Security Council, the US, and its allies. Last week, it launched a ballistic missile towards the Sea of Japan.
Things came to a head in 2019 when Trump, then the US president, met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, Vietnam. The Hanoi summit ended without an agreement after the two sides failed to bridge differences over sanctions relief and denuclearisation. Diplomatic engagement subsequently stalled, while North Korea continued to expand its nuclear and missile capabilities.
Tensions between North and South Korea have only escalated since then. In 2024, Kim notably announced a shift in DPRK’s outlook towards South Korea. Renouncing further attempts at reunification, Kim said that the South was now to be viewed as the “primary foe and invariable principal enemy”.
In recent years, both countries have resorted to escalating tactics, ranging from defence posturing to balloon diplomacy: North Korea sends trash-laden helium balloons in response to South Korean activists sending “propaganda-laden” balloons to the North. The two sides have also used loudspeakers across the border.
North Korea maintains a close strategic partnership with China, which has opposed the expansion of US-led military cooperation in the region.
Russia has also emerged as a North Korean ally, trading weapons with the largely isolated ‘hermit’ kingdom. North Korean troops have participated in Russia’s war against Ukraine and have reportedly gained “crucial experience”, according to an official with US and South Korean Combined Forces Command quoted by The New York Times on Monday.
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