Wire flash
US cancels joint amphibious drill with South Korea citing Iran war force constraints
Editorial responsibility
- No named human review is recorded for this page.
- Source reporting is collected, normalized, translated or condensed automatically when needed.
- Automatically published source-backed update
The United States canceled a joint amphibious landing drill (Ssangyong) scheduled for next month with South Korea, citing force availability constraints due to the war in Iran. The U.S. Marine Corps notified its South Korean counterpart in June. The allies remain in consultations on resuming the drills. This follows President Trump's order to scale back the separate Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, citing cost and Seoul's refusal to participate in the Iran war. Trump stated the drills sent an inappropriate signal to North Korea. Despite the reduction, North Korea fired 10 short-range ballistic missiles and denounced the exercises as invasion rehearsals.
Source report
The United States has canceled a joint amphibious landing drill scheduled for next month with South Korea, Seoul's Marine Corps confirmed on Monday, citing constraints on the availability of U.S. forces due to the war in Iran.
A South Korean Marine Corps spokesperson told a press briefing that the U.S. Marine Corps formally notified its South Korean counterpart in June that force availability would be constrained for the division-level exercise, known as Ssangyong.
The spokesperson stated that the allies remain in close consultations on resuming the drills. He did not specify what measures might be taken to prevent future cancellations or to make up for lost training opportunities.
U.S. Forces Korea did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Diplomatic Engagement
Later on Monday, the U.S. State Department announced that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had spoken with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun about a "range of issues" in their alliance. According to a State Department statement, Rubio told his South Korean counterpart that Washington and Seoul need to remain in close coordination on matters integral to their alliance.
Broader Context
The cancellation of the amphibious landing drill follows U.S. President Donald Trump's surprise order to scale back a separate annual joint military exercise that ended last Friday. Trump cited the cost and Seoul's refusal to take part in the Iran war.
Trump also wrote on his Truth Social platform that the Ulchi Freedom Shield drills sent "a signal that was totally inappropriate and hostile, to a Country that, as long as Donald J. Trump has been President, has been unthreatening and respectful."
Despite the reduction of the exercises, Pyongyang fired 10 short-range ballistic missiles last week and issued a statement denouncing the exercises. North Korea has long condemned such joint exercises as rehearsals for invasion.
###### Share:
###### More In Asia Pacific
Source
Defense NewsWestern
Part of this Story
Trump orders reduction of US-South Korea joint military exercises