Analysts say President Donald Trump's sudden order to significantly scale back the joint military exercises, the core of the U.S.-Korea combined defense, stems from Trump's accumulated dissatisfaction with the Korean government. Major foreign media reported that frustration is especially high over delays in Korea's investment in the United States.
On the 16th, local time, Trump wrote on Truth Social, "Given that Kim Jong-un of North Korea and I have a very good relationship, I don't like the fact that the United States agreed long ago to participate in joint military exercises with Korea." He added, "The exercises cost a lot in expense and the United States bears a significant portion of it," and "moreover, while I have respected them as president, they send a completely inappropriate and hostile signal to the country that is not threatening." He said he instructed defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to substantially reduce the scale of the exercises.
On the surface, he cited personal rapport with Kim Jong-un and the training expense issue, but foreign media assessed that frustration over delays in Korea's investment in the United States also played a part. Politico, the U.S. political news outlet, reported on the 17th, citing three anonymous sources, "Behind President Trump's revival of his first-term threat to scale back the U.S. role in joint military exercises with Korea is, in part, frustration that Korea's promised $350 billion investment in the United States (about 494 trillion won) is progressing slowly."
Bloomberg News also said, "It is possible that other sources of friction in the bilateral relationship influenced Trump's decision," adding, "Korea has shown less visible progress in fleshing out the strategic projects included in its $350 billion investment pledge in the United States than Japan, which pledged a similar $550 billion investment."
Korea last year lowered reciprocal tariff rates from 25% to 15% on the condition of pledging a $350 billion investment in the United States. Japan, which pledged U.S. investment around the same time, has already signed off on six investment projects and secured a list of potential projects in the queue. By contrast, Korea has agreed to allocate $150 billion of the total $350 billion to the "Make American Shipbuilding Great Again (MASGA)" initiative, but the remaining $200 billion in investment projects is still under discussion.
In fact, the Trump administration's frustration is growing. After imposing a 12.5% "forced labor tariff" last month, the United States has also pulled out the tariff hike card again by moving to announce an "overcapacity tariff" soon, pressuring the Korean government to quickly select the first investment project. Earlier this year, Trump also said he would raise the reciprocal tariff on Korea, citing delays in legislation related to Korea's investment in the United States.
According to Politico, Trump administration officials believe the Korean government is intentionally slowing the fulfillment of its investment pledge. One source said talks with Korea are proceeding more slowly than Trump administration officials expected and that unresolved issues remain, expressing frustration that "Korea is the slowest negotiating partner ever."
Victor Cha, Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), who served as Asia Director General at the White House National Security Council (NSC) in the George W. Bush administration, said, "I think part of the reason is that Korea is treating this like a normal investment," adding, "They try to lock down every detail perfectly before announcing anything, but that's not how things work in the Trump administration."
In addition, the Trump administration is said to be displeased with how Korea is treating U.S. e-commerce company Coupang. In June, Korean regulators imposed a penalty surcharge of more than $400 million on Coupang. Afterward, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee issued a report suggesting that "the Korean government targeted Coupang," and the White House said it would "not tolerate unfair practices."
Ultimately, observers say this again shows the Trump administration's tendency to link dissatisfaction in one area of alliance relations to judgments in other areas. A source familiar with the discussions said, "The president likes to use leverage," adding, "Leverage only exists if you're willing to actually use it, and Trump actually does."