The United States has canceled the large joint amphibious landing exercise "Ssangyong" with South Korea scheduled for September 2026 because of limited Marine Corps force availability caused by the ongoing US-Israel war on Iran [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. Han Seung-jeon, a South Korean Marine Corps spokesman, said, "The US Marine Corps formally notified our forces in June that its ability to deploy forces during this year’s Ssangyong exercise would be constrained due to the situation in the Middle East" [1].
Ssangyong is a biennial maritime joint drill focused on combined amphibious landing operations involving marine forces, warships, aircraft, and ground troops from both countries [1, 3, 4, 6]. The US informed South Korea of the limited force capacity in June 2026, several months ahead of the planned drill [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6].
In related adjustments, the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises were scaled down from their usual 11 days to 5 days following an order by President Donald Trump. Trump criticized the larger exercises as costly and a hostile signal to North Korea, stating they sent "a signal that was totally inappropriate and hostile, to a Country that, as long as Donald J. Trump has been President, has been unthreatening and respectful" [1, 2, 3, 4, 6]. The Ulchi exercises ended earlier than the originally planned 27-day duration on August 21 [2, 6].
North Korea condemned the joint drills as rehearsals for invasion and fired 10 short-range ballistic missiles last week despite the scaled-down exercises [3, 6].
Seoul and Washington continue consultations on possibly resuming the Ssangyong amphibious exercise, but no timeline or details have been disclosed [1, 2, 3, 4, 6]. Analysts link the cancellation to the ongoing US-Iran hostilities, which may extend into 2027 due to strategic issues including oil flow through the Strait of Hormuz [7].
The final scheduled next step is the originally planned but now canceled September 2026 Ssangyong joint exercise, while consultations between the US and South Korea over its possible resumption remain ongoing [1, 2, 3, 4, 6].
