U.S., South Korea cut short their joint military drills at Trump's direction
President Trump ordered the exercises be scaled back, citing what he said was a good relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korea's refusal to join the U.S. war against Iran.
The South Korean and U.S. militaries have agreed to shorten their drills at the United States' request , officials for both nations acknowledged Wednesday, days after President Trump ordered cuts to the exercises.
A Defense Department official told CBS News in a statement Tuesday evening that, at the direction of Mr. Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the joint drills had been "substantially reduced" and would end Friday, one week earlier than had been originally scheduled.
"Associated live-training events have been reduced, with certain events canceled or converted to simulations," the official said. "These adjustments preserve essential readiness and training objectives. There will be no degradation to U.S. training objectives."
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed in a separate statement the reduced timeline came at the request of the U.S. It said the allies also agreed to downsize some joint field training exercises.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff added that, going forward, the two nations would "discuss and implement various measures aimed at achieving the objectives of the UFS exercise and establishing a combined defense posture."