{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.kelly.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/kelly-tillis-press-trump-administration-to-reverse-cuts-to-joint-military-exercises-with-south-korea/", "Kelly, Tillis Press Trump Administration to Reverse\u00a0Cuts to\u00a0Joint Military Exercises with South Korea", "2026-08-18", "2026", "2026-08", "Democrat", "Senate", "AZ", "Mark Kelly", "K000377", "www.kelly.senate.gov", "markkelly", "https://www.kelly.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/", "scraper", "Bipartisan senators warn that scaling back exercises will degrade military readiness at a time when North Korea is deepening ties with Russia and China\n\nToday, U.S. Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) pressed the Trump administration to reverse its decision to substantially reduce joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea and urged the administration to maintain the training necessary to preserve the readiness of the alliance.\n\n\u201cFor more than 70 years, the alliance between the United States and South Korea has been a cornerstone of peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and throughout the Indo-Pacific,\u201d the senators wrote in a letter to President Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. \u201cSouth Korea is a capable military ally, and the ability of our forces to operate together is not guaranteed. It is built and sustained through rigorous, realistic, and recurring joint training.\u201d\n\nThe senators noted that North Korea and South Korea remain technically at war, and that North Korea continues to advance its nuclear and military capabilities while gaining combat experience through its support for Russia\u2019s war against Ukraine. They warned that North Korea\u2019s deepening ties with Russia and China make this the wrong moment to scale back joint readiness.\n\n\u201cThis is not the time to reduce the readiness of U.S. and allied forces in the region,\u201d the senators continued. \u201cJoint exercises such as Ulchi Freedom Shield provide U.S. and ROK forces critical opportunities to practice command and control, combined operations, logistics, and responses to evolving threats. Reducing these exercises risks degrading interoperability and readiness while sending the wrong signal to North Korea and our adversaries.\u201d\n\nKelly and Tillis also raised concerns that the reductions appear tied to South Korea\u2019s decision not to support U.S. military action inIran: \u201cOur allies should not be punished for declining to support unilateral U.S. military actions in the Middle East, particularly when such shortsighted measures undermine American military readiness.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe United States should continue to stand firmly alongside our South Korean allies and ensure our servicemembers have the training they need to fight and win should deterrence fail,\u201d the senators concluded.", 1, "2026-08-19T05:29:02Z", "2026-08-19T05:30:24Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.kelly.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/kelly-tillis-press-trump-administration-to-reverse-cuts-to-joint-military-exercises-with-south-korea/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.889552989974618, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}