Arabic version: ترامب يقول إن الولايات المتحدة ستقلص المناورات العسكرية مع كوريا الجنوبية

According to BBC News, President Donald Trump said the United States would “substantially reduce” joint military exercises with South Korea, citing his “very good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Seoul said the drills would proceed “as scheduled”, while Pyongyang had not commented.

Trump wrote on Truth Social that the exercises were costly, with much of the expense paid by the United States, and said they sent a signal that was “totally inappropriate and hostile”. He said it was “too late to cancel” because the annual US-South Korean exercises were due to begin on Monday.

In the same post, Trump said he had asked South Korea’s president whether the country wanted to join the US in the “denuclearisation” of Iran. Trump said the response was: “No thanks!” His announcement came less than 24 hours after he posted a 2018 photograph of himself and Kim, describing them as great friends “despite the unfriendly look on this particular picture”.

US and South Korean military leaders last week announced the 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, saying it would be similar in scale to previous years and involve about 18,000 South Korean soldiers. US military spokesperson Ryan Donald said training accounted for the threat posed by North Korean troops deployed to support Russia’s war against Ukraine. About 28,500 US military personnel are stationed in South Korea.

North Korea’s foreign ministry condemned the drills on Friday as “a rehearsal for an aggressive war”. The exercises follow ballistic missile tests by North Korea this month that are banned by the United Nations. Trump suspended the exercises in 2018 during denuclearisation negotiations with Kim, and they were scaled back again in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic.