Seoul, Aug. 19 -- South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said on Wednesday that Seoul was not informed beforehand about US President Donald Trump's decision to scale back joint military exercises with South Korea, Yonhap News Agency reported.

"Neither our government nor US 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," he said.

Cho was speaking about the reduction of the ongoing Ulchi Freedom Shield, the annual South Korea-US joint military exercise that began on Monday. The exercise will now end six days earlier than planned, on August 21.

Cho said South Korean Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back was in "close co...