South Korea and the United States are shortening their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercises after a directive from Donald Trump to reduce their scale. Seoul says the drill’s duration has been cut from 11 days to five days.
The drills are part of the allies’ regular summertime training schedule. The Hindu reports the exercises begin around Monday, Aug. 17, and were originally planned as an 11-day run before Trump ordered the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” them. Al Jazeera also reports the adjustment, focusing on the reduction in length to five days. Both accounts describe the change as a direct response to the U.S. order, with the practical effect being fewer days of joint training.
While outlets differ mainly in emphasis—one highlighting the U.S. instruction and the original schedule, the other emphasizing the confirmed new duration—they agree on the core development: the annual drills proceed but on a reduced timeline.
