Seoul says it received no prior notice over joint drill cuts from US

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun learned of South Korea-US military drill cuts from US President Donald Trump's social media as Seoul received no advance notice, according to local media on Wednesday.

Cho told the parliamentary committee for foreign affairs and unification that neither the South Korean government nor US government officials had any knowledge of what President Trump posted on his social media, adding that Seoul received no advance notification.

He explained that South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back had been in close consultation with the US side since the post appeared, emphasizing that it was not a unilateral notification, as the defense minister was consulting with the US side.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said earlier in the day that the duration of the ongoing joint military exercise with the United States, Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS), will be cut from August 17-27 to August 17-21.

Trump said on August 16 (local time) that he had instructed the Pentagon to scale back joint South Korea-US military exercises significantly, and Commander of the US Forces Korea Xavier Brunson visited South Korea's defense ministry building on Tuesday.

The UFS is a summertime South Korea-US joint military exercise featuring field maneuvers, computer-simulated command post exercises and civil defense drills.

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