Trump orders fewer military exercises with South Korea as North Korea ties shift
Photo: Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un (Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump has stated that he has directed the Pentagon to scale back the scope of military exercises with South Korea. The reason, he said, was his relationship with the North Korean leader, according to the White House chief's post on Truth Social.
"Based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong Un, of North Korea, I am not happy with the fact that the United States has, long ago, agreed to participate in Joint Military Exercises with South Korea," Trump stated.
According to him, these exercises are costly and are largely funded by the US. Furthermore, they send a completely inappropriate and hostile signal to a country that, while Trump was president, behaved innocently and respectfully.
"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," the US president writes.
Concluding, Trump added that he had recently asked the South Korean president whether Seoul would like to join the US in denuclearizing Iran, to which he received a refusal. He also noted that the reduction in the scale of the exercises is unrelated to this refusal.
What else is important to know
A few days ago, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung called on North Korea to begin negotiations and conclude a permanent peace instead of a temporary armistice. It should be noted that due to the lack of an agreement, the war has effectively lasted 76 years.
It has also recently come to light that last week, the South Korean army fired warning shots after a group of North Korean soldiers crossed the land border between the two countries.
