Arabic version: كوريا الجنوبية تقول إن الولايات المتحدة ألغت مناورات مشاة البحرية «سانغيونغ»

According to Al Jazeera, the United States has cancelled a large joint amphibious landing exercise with South Korea that had been scheduled for next month, citing limits on available forces linked to the US-Israel war on Iran.

Han Seung-jeon, a spokesman for the South Korean Marine Corps, said the US Marine Corps formally told South Korean forces in June that its ability to deploy personnel for this year’s Ssangyong exercise would be constrained by the Middle East situation. He spoke at a news briefing on Monday.

The biennial Ssangyong drills bring together South Korean and US marine forces to strengthen combined operations. They typically involve warships, aircraft and ground forces practising amphibious landings. Seoul and Washington are continuing consultations on resuming the exercise, Han said, without providing further details. The Pentagon did not immediately comment.

The decision follows President Donald Trump’s order last week to reduce a separate annual joint military exercise that ended last Friday. Trump cited its cost and Seoul’s refusal to participate in the war on Iran. The Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises were cut from 11 days to five.

Trump also said the drills sent a hostile signal to North Korea, whose leader Kim Jong Un he has sought to engage again. Despite the scaled-back exercises, North Korea fired 10 short-range ballistic missiles last week and denounced the drills. Pyongyang has long described US-South Korean military exercises as rehearsals for an invasion.