(ATTN: UPDATES with Pentagon's statement; CHANGES dateline, ADDS byline)

By Kim Seung-yeon and Song Sang-ho

SEOUL/WASHINGTON, Aug. 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States are scaling down their annual combined exercise that kicked off earlier this week at Washington's request, with the scheduled field training also set to be reduced, South Korea's military said Wednesday.

The allies agreed to cut short the Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise to Friday, concluding the 11-day drills a week earlier than scheduled, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and the U.S. Defense Department said in separate releases. The UFS was scheduled to run from Aug. 17-27.

Field training exercises, a core part of the drills, will also be reduced to some extent, with discussions under way between the two militaries to decide on the detailed plans, the JCS said.

The Pentagon said it has "substantially" reduced the exercise, with associated live-training events reduced and certain events canceled or converted to simulations.

However, the department said the downsizing does not mean a weakening of the allies' military capabilities.

"These adjustments preserve essential readiness and training objectives. There will be no degradation to U.S. training objectives," a Pentagon official said.

The announcement comes after U.S. President Donald Trump called for scaling down joint South Korea-U.S. military drills in a social media post on Sunday (U.S. time), citing a cost burden and his good relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

The U.S. Defense Department said earlier it was "actively" working to execute Trump's directive on the allies' military exercises.

Signs of adjustments to the schedule emerged Tuesday as U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) Commander Gen. Xavier Brunson, who doubles as the CFC commander, made an unannounced visit to the defense ministry in Seoul for a meeting with Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back.

The Combined Forces Command (CFC), the allies' joint military headquarters leading the UFS, is already conducting the exercise out of two separate command posts -- at the wartime CP Tango bunker in Seongnam and at Camp Humphreys, the main U.S. base in Pyeongtaek, some 50 kilometers south of the capital -- the JCS said.

Camp Humphreys serves as the CFC's peacetime headquarters. Having split the command posts reflects the readjustment in the scope of the UFS.

"South Korea and the U.S. agreed to discuss and carry out various measures going forward to achieve the objectives of the UFS exercise and establish a robust combined defense posture," the JCS said.

The UFS is mainly conducted on two tracks -- a simulation-based command post exercise and a large-scale live training. The allies said earlier they had planned to carry out 14 field maneuvers at the battalion level or above this year, down from 17 conducted last year.

Speaking to reporters shortly after the announcement, Ahn said that the allies were canceling the second half of the exercise, which is based on counterattack scenarios against enemy aggression. The UFS is primarily designed to train for contingencies against North Korea.

"We appear to be leaning toward cancellation," he said.

The allies scaled back their joint drills in 2019 during Trump's first term, when the high-stakes nuclear diplomacy with Pyongyang was at its peak.

North Korea has decried the allies' exercises as rehearsals for invasion and conducted its own weapons tests in apparent protest.

Wednesday's announcement comes amid growing speculation for a resumption of dialogue between Trump and Kim.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Trump is pushing for another in-person meeting with Pyongyang's reclusive leader this fall, possibly during his trip to China where he is scheduled to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

elly@yna.co.kr

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