--- title: Trump Stops Korea Military Exercises. But Why Do They Exist? description: In North Korea, Trump said he'll suspend joint military exercises with South Korea. The U.S. has only agreed to suspend them once before. canonical: https://time.com/5309792/south-korea-military-exercise-history/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-06-12T17:36:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T09:30:39.422Z article:section: History og:title: Trump Stops Korea Military Exercises. But Why Do They Exist? og:description: The U.S. has only agreed to suspend military exercises with South Korea once before og:url: https://time.com/5309792/south-korea-military-exercise-history/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt198bc85ff0a01845/698932e00a4a2231ae9d2f25/gettyimages-971886374.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: TOPSHOT-SINGAPORE-US-NKOREA-DIPLOMACY-SUMMIT og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Stops Korea Military Exercises. But Why Do They Exist? twitter:description: The U.S. has only agreed to suspend military exercises with South Korea once before twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt198bc85ff0a01845/698932e00a4a2231ae9d2f25/gettyimages-971886374.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Says He'll Stop Joint Military Exercises With South Korea. Here's Why U.S. Troops Are There in the First Place > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. A TIME subscription provides full access to that journalism in print and digital, from $20 a year, and can be cancelled at any time. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-sub-2026q3/newsletters?i=60cab052-06a8-4ad1-a84d-e9b77e25fe71&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) * TIME Subscriptions: [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-sub-2026q3/subscribe?i=60cab052-06a8-4ad1-a84d-e9b77e25fe71&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Donald Trump Holds Press Conference After Historic Summit with Kim Jong Un [Watch (HLS stream): President Donald Trump Holds Press Conference After Historic Summit with Kim Jong Un](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Ic6JkYG3.m3u8) (2:39)  _Published 2018-06-12. President Donald Trump Holds Press Conference After Historic Summit with Kim Jong Un_  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Jun 12, 2018 5:36 PM UTC  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Jun 12, 2018 5:36 PM UTC President Donald Trump made history on Tuesday when he became the first U.S. President to meet with a North Korean dictator for [denuclearization](http://time.com/5309427/trump-kim-joint-document-denuclearization/) talks. But, though his meeting on Singapore’s Sentosa Island was with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, South Korea also played a large part in what happened. As TIME has reported, the U.S. made [perhaps the most significant concession](http://time.com/5309556/donald-trump-kim-jong-un-north-korea-summit-reality/) at the summit by agreeing to stop joint military exercises with South Korea. Trump said stopping “provocative”[ “war games”](http://time.com/5309515/trump-kim-summit-south-korea-end-military-exercises/) would save money. But the joint exercises, which the U.S. has [described](http://time.com/5047204/south-korea-united-states-military-exercise-drill-air-force/) as a security and peacekeeping measure, have long been a sticking point; North Korea, which views the exercises as practice for an invasion, had [threatened](http://time.com/5278314/north-korea-summit-military-exercises/) to cancel the summit over them. But why were those military exercises taking place at all, and how did nearly[ 29,000](https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-troops-in-south-korea-emerge-as-potential-bargaining-chip-1525625173) U.S. troops end up in South Korea? American troops have been in South Korea since the Korean War, which [began in 1950](http://time.com/3915803/korean-war-1950-history/) when North Korean forces crossed the line that had been drawn to [separate the two nations](http://time.com/5164622/2018-winter-olympics-korean-history/) after World War II. When open hostilities ended in 1953 — North and South Korea are still [technically at war](http://time.com/5253054/north-korea-south-korea-war-history/) — the support forces of both sides’ allies remained on the ground. By the late 1950s, about[ 60,000](https://books.google.com/books?id=SDb3PSD%5F%5FKwC&pg=PA230&lpg=PA230&dq=richard+nixon+60,000+u.s.+troops+south+korea&source=bl&ots=kDYoJ2CdfG&sig=riybjGGShFgcbOgfv9bEQ2FTMSo&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi7nNzFvM7bAhWKCnwKHZgkBh4Q6AEITTAG#v=onepage&q=richard%20nixon%2060%2C000%20u.s.%20troops%20south%20korea&f=false) U.S. troops were stationed in South Korea. Meanwhile, there were were 400,000 Chinese soldiers in North Korea, says Charles K. Armstrong, a Korean Studies specialist at Columbia University, but they were kicked out in 1958\. There haven’t been foreign forces in the North since. “Both sides thought South Korea was too poor and weak to defend itself,” says Armstrong. “North Korea was arguably militarily stronger and the economy recovered more quickly, so South Korea felt very vulnerable for many years after the Korean War. The economy of South Korea didn’t pass the North until the early ’70s.” That’s when the regular joint military exercises started — [in the ’70s](http://www.usfk.mil/About/Combined-Forces-Command/) — and the U.S. has only agreed to [suspend](http://time.com/5253054/north-korea-south-korea-war-history/) them once before, in 1992\. That was enough to get North Korea to agree to denuclearization at that time, though it became apparent that the nation’s actions didn’t match its words. “Right after that, the U.S. said it had strong evidence that North Korea was developing nuclear weapons and then they went back to having the exercises and they continued ever since,” says Armstrong. “It does seem like a bit of an anachronism now that South Korea is so much stronger than the North in every way, except having nuclear weapons.” ## Transcript Chairman Kim and I just signed a joint statement in which he reaffirmed his unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. We also agreed to vigorous negotiations to implement the agreement as soon as possible. And he wants to do that. This isn't the past. This isn't another administration that never got it started. It does take a long time to pull off complete denuclearization. It takes a long time. Scientifically, you have to wait certain periods of time. A lot of things happen. But despite that, once you start the process it means it's pretty much over. Can't use them. That's the good news. And that's gonna start very very soon. I believe that's gonna start very soon. We would do it as fast as it can mechanically and physically be done. The sanctions will come off when we are sure that The nukes are no longer a factor. Otto Warmbier is a very special person and he will be for a long time in my life his parents a good friends of mine. I think without Otto, this would not have happened. Something happened from that day, it was terrible thing, it was brutal But a lot of people started to focus on what was going, including North Korea. I really think that Otto is someone who did not die in vain. 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