The annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise — one of two major combined drills the US-South Korea alliance conducts each year to prepare for contingencies involving North Korea — concluded on Friday after just five of its planned eleven days, following a direct order from President Donald Trump to scale back the maneuvers. Trump justified the reduction by saying the drills could send an "inappropriate and hostile" message to Pyongyang, while also citing their cost and his personal rapport with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un; the move is widely interpreted as a diplomatic gesture aimed at reopening talks with Kim, whom Trump said he expects to meet later this year. North Korea dismissed the cutback, insisting it did not alter the fundamentally aggressive character of the exercises, while Seoul indicated it prefers rescheduling the canceled drills rather than abandoning them, as the field training is central to its bid to reclaim wartime operational control (OPCON) — currently held by Washington — from US command.