(Reuters)
SEOUL, Aug 19- South Korea and the U.S. will cut the duration of their annual joint military drills to five days from 11 and scale back some field training, the allies said on Wednesday, after President Donald Trump ordered a substantial reduction in U.S. participation.
The Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, which began on August 17, will now run through August 21, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and a Pentagon official said. The exercise had originally been scheduled to conclude on August 27.
South Korean Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back said the allies were moving to cancel the second phase of the exercise, South Korean media reported. That phase had been expected to involve counterattack operations following an initial defensive phase, media said.
At the suggestion of the United States, the countries agreed to make partial adjustments to the duration and scope of the drills, the JCS said. Some combined field manoeuvre training would also be scaled back, although details were still being discussed.
A U.S. Department of Defense official said the department had substantially reduced the exercise and associated live-training events, with some cancelled or converted to simulations.
The changes would preserve essential readiness and training objectives, with no degradation to U.S. training objectives, the official said.
The announcement follows Trump’s order on Sunday to “substantially reduce” U.S. participation in the annual exercise, citing his “very good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
