(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Hyo-jung and Kim Cheol-seon = The ROK-US military authorities decided to end the regular ROK-US joint exercise 'Ulchi Freedom Shield' (UFS) early in accordance with US President Donald Trump's order to reduce ROK-US joint exercises.
It is unprecedented for a theater-level ROK-US joint exercise that has already begun to be terminated or scaled down early at the request of the US, as a result of a decision made just two days after President Trump's order.
On the 19th, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Joint Chiefs of Staff) issued a press release regarding this year's UFS exercise and officially announced, "South Korea and the United States have decided to make some adjustments to the exercise period and scale at the suggestion of the United States," adding, "We have decided to adjust and implement the UFS exercise period from the 17th to the 21st."
The UFS exercise is a regular joint exercise to defend the Korean Peninsula in case of emergency, and was originally scheduled to be conducted from the 17th to the 27th.
UFS consists of a simulation-based command post exercise (CPX) and an associated field maneuver training (FTX). The command post exercise consists of the first part focusing on defense and the second part practicing counterattack operations.
It has been reported that Korea and the United States have agreed to only proceed with the first part of the exercise scheduled for the 21st and cancel the second part of the exercise scheduled for the 24th to the 27th.
Counterattack exercises, which North Korea is particularly sensitive to, were canceled and the training period was cut by more than half from 11 days to 5 days.
Minister of National Defense Ahn Gyu-baek met with reporters at the Ministry of National Defense building in Yongsan-gu, Seoul on this day and was asked whether the second part of the training would be canceled. He said, "It seems like we are heading toward cancellation."
The joint outdoor maneuver training planned in conjunction with the command post exercise will also be partially scaled down. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said, “South Korea and the United States are discussing specific details.”
There are 14 joint outdoor maneuver trainings scheduled for this UFS period, integrated at the battalion level or higher.
It is reported that South Korea and the United States are considering ways to reduce the number of joint FTXs by conducting training separately or with the ROK military alone, or to postpone training, and are discussing ways to adjust each FTX case. Accordingly, joint FTX is expected to be significantly reduced during this UFS period.
As the period and scale of command post exercises and outdoor maneuver training are reduced, it is expected that some of the US military personnel dispatched to Korea from the US mainland for UFS exercises will be withdrawn.
However, it is known that the Korean government is putting its weight behind postponement of the joint FTX program rather than canceling it altogether.
In response to a reporter's question, "Can more than 10 (UFS-linked) FTXs be canceled?" Minister Ahn said, "No, it is not canceled. It will be done throughout the year after (UFS) ends," with the intention that a total of 160 FTXs planned for this year will be carried out as is.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff said, "Going forward, ROK and the United States have discussed and decided to implement various measures to achieve the goals of the UFS exercise and establish a combined defense posture," which is interpreted as leaving room for the postponement and implementation of the scaled-down FTX.
However, the U.S. Department of Defense (Department of War) said in a statement that "some training was canceled or converted to simulation," so there is a possibility that the difference in perspectives between the two sides may act as a variable in organizing implementation plans.
In addition, the Ministry of War announced that UFS exercises had been "significantly scaled back," but the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff expressed a slight difference in temperature by expressing "some adjustments to the period and scale, etc."
In addition, the wartime command center of the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command will be dualized to conduct exercises not only at CP Tango in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, but also at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, a peacetime command center.
On the social media TruthSocial on the 16th (local time), President Trump said, "Considering that Chairman Kim Jong-un and I have a very good relationship, I am not satisfied with the fact that the United States has long agreed to participate in joint military exercises with South Korea," and said that he had ordered Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to significantly reduce the scale of joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States.
This order is interpreted as an intention to create conditions for the North Korea-US summit that President Trump hopes for.
In a situation where there is no corresponding action from North Korea, the United States has in fact preemptively thrown the card of 'reducing ROK-US training.'
It is still unclear whether North Korea will respond favorably. North Korea, without mentioning the ROK-US military authorities' discussion of reducing training, criticized the UFS exercises in a comment on the Korean Central News Agency this morning, saying, "Any war of aggression practice will never bring the results desired by its implementers."
