The US president previously slammed the joint drills as “provocative” in 2018 following a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore.
US President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon on Sunday to scale back annual joint military exercises with South Korea, saying the ally declined to help with the war against Iran and citing his good relationship with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un.
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Trump said in a post on social media post that the exercises, which began Monday, are not only costly but “send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile” to North Korea, which he said “has been unthreatening and respectful” during his time in the White House.
“Therefore, and based on the fact that it is too late to cancel, I have instructed Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to substantially reduce the Joint Military Exercises!” Trump wrote.
The Republican president added that he recently asked South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung if they would join the US in the “denuclearisation” of Iran, “and they said, ‘No thanks!’”
The move is the latest example of Trump appearing to turn against an ally in favour of a leader that previous administrations have cast as an adversary.
Trump and others in his administration have also railed against NATO allies over perceived lack of support for his war against Iran, even as they seek to confront an increasingly aggressive Russia in the Baltic region.
It is also a sharp turnaround from how his administration has viewed South Korea in recent months. In May, Hegseth praised the longtime ally for its “commitment to increase defence spending" and its "leadership in assuming primary responsibility for the security of the Korean Peninsula" during a meeting at the Pentagon.
“It demonstrates alliance burden-sharing that all of America’s partners would do well to follow," the defence secretary added.
The 11 days of exercises involving 18,000 South Korean soldiers were designed to beef up readiness against North Korean threats.
The US military has said the summertime Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises reinforce “the role of the alliance as the linchpin for regional peace and security” and reaffirm “the ironclad commitment between the United States and the Republic of Korea to defend their homelands.”
The exercises are one of the two main combined drills conducted by the South Korean and US militaries annually, along with their springtime training.
North Korea has been pushing hard to enlarge its nuclear and missile arsenals since Kim’s high-stakes diplomacy with Trump collapsed in 2019. Experts say Kim likely believes a bigger weapons arsenal would increase his ability to force more concessions from the US in future negotiations.
North Korea on Friday threatened unspecified stern steps against the United States and South Korea, describing their military drills as a “a rehearsal for an aggressive war” that are triggering greater instability in the region.
Trump met with the North Korean leader three times during his first term to discuss the country’s nuclear program, most recently in 2019. Since returning to office, Trump has expressed interest in continuing those discussions.
In September last year, Kim said he held “good personal memories” of Trump and suggested he could return to talks if Washington drops “its delusional obsession with denuclearization” of North Korea.
Trump also previously sought to end the exercises in his first term following a meeting with Kim in 2018 in Singapore, calling them “provocative” and citing “good progress” in nuclear talks.