Trump’s Directive to Scale Back U.S.-ROK Combined Military Exercises: Implications and Prospects

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Trump’s Directive to Scale Back U.S.-ROK Combined Military Exercises: Implications and Prospects

2026.08.17.

Lee Sang Sin Director, Unification Policy Research Division

President Trump’s directive to scale back the ROK-U.S. combined military exercises can be seen as a renewed expression of his willingness to engage in a dialogue with North Korea as well as his preference for reducing combined exercises as a means of managing costs and tensions, which he has maintained since 2018. This is also largely consistent with the Lee Jae Myung administration’s policy of peaceful coexistence on the Korean peninsula and its “Peace Maker-Pace Maker” initiative. In particular, considering the fact that Trump has repeatedly expressed his willingness to resume talks with Kim Jong Un since 2025 and has left open the possibility of a more phased approach to North Korea’s denuclearization, this move can be interpreted not simply as an abrupt decision, but as another signal aimed at facilitating the resumption of a U.S.-North Korea dialogue.

The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Korea Institute for National Unification.

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