South Korea said Wednesday that joint military exercises currently underway with the United States were being scaled back after President Donald Trump, citing his “very good” relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, ordered that they be reduced.The surprise comments by Trump, which came hours before the exercises began Monday, have unsettled South Korea, which relies heavily on the U.S.for its security, as well as other U.S.
allies in the region facing a growing threat from nuclear-armed North Korea.The annual U.S.-South Korea drills, known as Ulchi Freedom Shield, will now end on Aug.21 rather than Aug.
27 as originally scheduled, the South Korean Ministry of Defense said.00:41Trump orders reduction of joint exercises with South Korea00:0000:00The two allies “have agreed, at the request of the U.S.side, to make some adjustments to the duration and scale of the exercise,” the ministry said in a statement.Some of the combined field training exercises will also be conducted on a reduced scale, the ministry said, adding that the U.S.
and South Korea “are currently consulting on the specific details.”The ministry also said the ROK-U.S.Combined Forces Command, a joint war headquarters made up of the South Korean military and U.S.
Forces Korea, was conducting the exercise with its wartime command posts divided between Command Post Tango, the two militaries’ main wartime command center, and Camp Humphreys, a U.S.military base south of the South Korean capital, Seoul.“Going forward, the ROK and the United States will discuss and implement various measures to achieve the objectives of the UFS exercise and maintain a robust combined defense posture,” the ministry said, using an abbreviation for South Korea’s formal name, the Republic of Korea.The ministry declined to comment on a reported meeting Tuesday between Gen.
Xavier Brunson, the commander of U.S.Forces Korea, and South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back.The White House did not imm...