US and South Korean soldiers take part in joint drills in 2023<\/p>\n
South Korea's annual joint military drills with the US will be cut short by six days at the request of Washington, its defence ministry has announced.<\/p>\n
Seoul said that the "period and scale" of the 2026 Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise had been adjusted due to a "proposal of the US side".<\/p>\n
The drill will now conclude on 21 August, rather than 27 August as planned.<\/p>\n
It comes after Donald Trump announced plans to curtail exercises with South Korea, citing his "very good" relationship with North Korea's Kim Jong Un. He also accused Seoul of refusing to take part in action against Iran.<\/p>\n
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun told a parliamentary hearing that neither South Korean nor US officials had been aware in advance about Trump's plans.<\/p>\n
The combined field training exercise component of the drills would also be "partially reduced in scale", Seoul said, noting that the "specific details" of that reduction are still under discussion.<\/p>\n
The unprecedented curtailing shakes South Korea's confidence in America's commitment to come to its aid, under a defence pact that is the foundation of their relationship.<\/p>\n
It also sends a similar signal to other US allies in the region like Japan and Taiwan.<\/p>\n
Wednesday's announcement comes after US officials told the Wall Street Journal that Trump is pushing his aides for a meeting with Kim Jong Un.<\/p>\n
Pyongyang has not officially commented but the North Korean leader's sister Kim Yo-Jong said on Wednesday, "There is nothing I know about the news from Washington that there was communication between the leaders of DPRK and the US".<\/p>\n
She also added that the reduction of the drill was not "something that merits comment".<\/p>\n
"Just because the scale or the length is reduced, [this] does not mean that the hostile and aggressive essence of the drill changes," she was quoted as saying in state media.<\/p>\n
While she admitted her brother personally had "good memories and view of Trump" and the relationship between the two was "firmly sound", she stressed the US had not shifted its "hostile policy" against North Korea.<\/p>\n
Watch: BBC breaks down Trump's latest shift on North and South Korea<\/p>\n