Foreign Relations

Seoul Says It Had No Warning Before Trump Cut Drills Over Iran War Refusal

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Courtroom-sketch editorial illustration of a U.S.-South Korea joint training exercise at a forward refuelling point: an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter stands low on a dusty dirt clearing at right, its long rotor blades sweeping across the frame above a dark slate-blue fuselage, nose sensor turret and stub wings hung with munitions, two soldiers in camouflage uniforms and helmets crouch in the left foreground beside a yellow fuel drum marked with a numeral, a thick black refuelling hose snaking a

South Korea's foreign minister, Cho Hyun, told a National Assembly committee on Wednesday that neither Seoul nor American officials received advance notice before President Trump ordered the allies' joint exercises cut back. Trump announced the reduction in a Truth Social post on Sunday, directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to substantially reduce the drills. He said he had asked South Korea's president to join the United States in the denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and that Seoul declined. Ulchi Freedom Shield, an 11-day exercise involving 18,000 South Korean soldiers, will now end on August 21 instead of August 27. Cho said the defense minister is consulting closely with Washington.

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