Trump orders cuts to South Korea military drills, citing ties with Kim Jong Un

Reuters reports this.

Trump announced the decision hours before the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises were scheduled to begin on August 17. The drills, involving around 18,000 South Korean military personnel, started as planned on Monday and are due to run through August 27.

“These exercises are not only costly [...] but send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile, to a Country that, as long as Donald J. Trump has been President, has been unthreatening and respectful,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump said he was “not happy” that the United States had agreed to participate in the exercises and pointed to his “very good relationship” with Kim.

He also cited South Korea’s refusal to join U.S. efforts against Iran. Trump said he had recently asked South Korean President Lee Jae Myung whether Seoul wanted to participate in the “denuclearization” of Iran and received the response: “No thanks!”

It remains unclear how the exercises will be scaled back. South Korea’s presidential office said it was reviewing Trump’s statement and expressed hope that his relationship with Kim would lead to meaningful dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang. Seoul said the allies would continue coordinating on their joint defense posture and military exercises.

Trump has long pushed to reduce U.S.-South Korean military exercises, which North Korea routinely describes as preparations for an invasion. During his first presidency, Trump held three summits with Kim, but the diplomatic effort produced no changes to North Korea’s nuclear weapons or ballistic missile programs.

The latest decision comes as North Korea has significantly expanded its military cooperation with Russia. North Korean troops have fought alongside Russian forces in the war against Ukraine, while Pyongyang has also supplied Moscow with weapons.

Victor Cha, head of the Korea program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Reuters that Trump may be seeking renewed engagement with Kim partly as a way to weaken North Korea’s growing ties with Russia.