South Korea Was Given No Notice Before Trump Announced Drill Cut, Foreign Minister Says

President Donald Trump is welcomed by South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun as he arrives at Gimhae International Airport in Busan, South Korea, on October 29, 2025. —Andrew Harnik—Getty Images South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said Wednesday that Seoul was given no notice before President Donald Trump announced that he would be scaling back joint military operations between the two countries.

“Neither our government nor U.S. officials knew what President Trump wrote on his Truth Social," Cho told the National Assembly Committee on Foreign Affairs and Unification.

"We were not notified in advance.” Cho added, however, that Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back was in “close consultation” with his U.S. counterparts regarding the reductions to South Korea-U.S. military exercises.

Read More: Trump’s South Korea Shift Tests a Key U.S.

Alliance Trump on Sunday announced in a Truth Social post that he had instructed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “substantially reduce” joint military exercises with South Korea, citing the country’s refusal to participate in the U.S.-Israel war against Iran and his “very good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Trump called the joint exercises “costly” and “totally inappropriate and hostile” to North Korea, which he said has been “unthreatening and respectful” throughout his presidency.

Both the Pentagon and South Korea have confirmed that joint operations have been reduced following Trump’s announcement.

A Defense Department official tells TIME that the U.S. has “substantially reduced” Exercise Ulchi Freedom Shield—an annual, large-scale training dating back roughly 50 years that combines multiple sectors of the military designed to prepare a U.S.-Korean joint response to international threats.

The Ulchi exercise began on Monday and was supposed to last for 11 days, but will now end on Aug.

21, one week earlier than originally scheduled, the official says.

“Associated live-training events have been reduced, with certain events canceled or converted to simulations,” the official adds, noting that “training that enhances tactical capability” will continue.

“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 also confirmed that it had agreed to the reductions at the request of the U.S.

North Korea has largely shrugged off the reductions, saying that they don’t change the geopolitical posture of either the U.S. or South Korea towards itself.