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Soldiers of the combined forces take part in a joint military exercise at a beach in Pohang

The number of US troops participating in this year’s US-South Korea Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) joint exercise, which will start from Aug. 21, has decreased in comparison to last year. This has led to speculation about whether the exercise itself has been scaled down.

According to a military source on August 18, “In this year’s Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise, there will be about 50,000 South Korean troops and a total of 17,500 American troops, including 3,000 overseas reinforcements.” Last year’s exercise is known to have had a total of 25,000 U.S. troops, including 2,500 overseas reinforcements. Although the number of overseas reinforcements has risen by 500, the total number of troops has decreased by 7,500.

It is uncertain whether the decrease in troop numbers signifies a scaling down of the exercise itself. South Korea military leaders have consistently rejected the idea of a scaled down military exercise, saying, “The scope of this year’s Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise will be similar to that of last year.” However, in the event that North Korea and the U.S. conducted secret negotiations to reduce the scale of the UFG following North Korea’s recent threats of missile strikes around Guam, it seems possible that the scale of the joint military exercise has decreased.

On the same day, the South Korean Ministry of Defense released more information, revealing that, “There will be a training conducted for the U.S.-South Korea Ulchi Freedom Guardian joint military exercise, which will start on August 21 and end on August 31.” According to the Defense Ministry, “This is an annual command post exercise that is part of the US-South Korea alliance,” and “Seven United Nations member states participating in the UN Command, including Australia, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, New Zealand, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom will send military officials as observers.”

By Park Byong-su, senior staff writer

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