The Republic of Korea and the United States have cut the duration of their annual joint military exercise roughly in half following an order from US President Donald Trump.
The Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, originally scheduled to run for 11 days through Aug 27, will now last five days and conclude on Aug 21 at the request of the US, Yonhap News Agency reported on Wednesday, citing the ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff.
UFS is a summertime exercise involving command post and field training. The two countries label it as an effort to strengthen their combined defense posture and response capabilities.
The scale of this year's drills will also be adjusted, Seoul said.
"The ROK and the US agreed to discuss and carry out various measures going forward to achieve the objectives of the UFS exercise and establish a robust combined defense posture," the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
