US President Donald Trump has announced a substantial reduction in joint military exercises with South Korea, citing Seoul's refusal to join America's campaign against Iran and his "very good relationship" with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the exercises are "not only costly, with much of these costs paid for by the United States of America (as usual!), but send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile."
South Korea declines Iran role
Trump also complained that South Korea had not joined America in its campaign to denuclearise Iran. He wrote: "While somewhat unrelated (?), I recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, 'No thanks!'".
The announcement came less than 24 hours after Trump posted an old photograph of himself and Kim from 2018, writing the two were great friends "despite the unfriendly look on this particular picture".
Annual drills proceed as scheduled
The US and South Korea are set to start their annual military exercises on Monday, with authorities in Seoul confirming that drills with the US - entitled Ulchi Freedom Shield - would proceed "as scheduled". Last week, US and South Korean military leaders held a joint press conference confirming Ulchi Freedom Shield as an 11-day operation similar in scale to previous years. Roughly 18,000 South Korean soldiers will participate, with about 28,500 American military personnel stationed in South Korea.
Trump said in his social media post on Sunday that it was "too late to cancel" the drills set to begin on Monday.
North Korea condemns drills
Both posts follow a Friday statement by North Korea's foreign ministry condemning the joint military drills between Seoul and the US as "a rehearsal for an aggressive war". Pyongyang has not commented on any scaling back of drills since Trump's Sunday comments.
The scaling back of joint exercises comes mere days after both nations and Japan detected ballistic missile tests by North Korea that have been banned by the United Nations.
