SEOUL, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- The South Korea-U.S. joint military exercise Ulchi Freedom Shield, originally scheduled to run from Aug. 17 to Aug. 27, ended early Friday morning, Yonhap News Agency reported.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he had instructed the Pentagon to substantially reduce the joint military exercises with South Korea.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday that the duration of the joint exercise would be shortened from 11 days to five days, with its scale also partially reduced, following a U.S. proposal.
The reduction in both the duration and scale of an ongoing theater-level South Korea-U.S. joint exercise was unprecedented, according to Yonhap News Agency.
The two countries plan to conduct a total of 159 combined field training exercises this year. However, the number of drills actually conducted is expected to decline amid Trump's directive to scale back the exercises and the situation in the Middle East, Yonhap reported. ■