Trump orders Hegseth to scale back joint military exercises with South Korea

US President Donald Trump has instructed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to reduce the scope of upcoming joint military exercises with South Korea, a country described as a longtime American ally.

The announcement was made just a single day before the exercises were originally scheduled to begin, leaving little time for adjustments ahead of the planned start of the drills.

Limited details available

At this stage, publicly available information about the decision remains limited. The reasons behind Trump's move to scale back the exercises have not been disclosed, nor is it clear exactly how significantly the drills will be reduced compared with what had been planned. It is also not known whether the decision reflects a broader review of US policy in the region or is an isolated step.

Joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea have long been regarded as a key element of the security cooperation between the two nations. Changes to the scale of such exercises are typically viewed as signals of shifts in the dynamics of bilateral military cooperation, though the available information does not offer further detail on how this decision might affect future cooperation between the two countries.

The situation remains developing, and additional information from official sources is expected regarding the extent of the decision and its impact on the planned exercises.