US-South Korea war games cut short after Washington request, Seoul says

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. 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". The drill will now conclude on 21 August, rather than 27 August as planned. President Donald Trump, who has accused Seoul of refusing to take part in action against Iran, told reporters on Wednesday that he expects to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later this year. 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 to scale back joint military drills with Seoul. 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. 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. It also sends a similar signal to other US allies in the region lik