Bangladesh, Aug. 20 -- US President Donald Trump has ordered his Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to substantially reduce the scale of joint military exercises with South Korea. The instruction came just as the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield drills were set to begin on Monday, involving roughly 18,000 South Korean troops alongside American forces and personnel from several United Nations Command members.

Trump made it clear that a full cancellation was no longer possible because it was “too late,” leaving only the option of a substantial reduction. In his Truth Social post he described the exercises as “totally inappropriate and hostile” to the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK), better known as North Korea, a ...