Trump Says US To ‘Substantially Reduce’ Military Drills With S.Korea, Cites ‘Very Good Relationship’ With Kim

President Trump revealed Sunday he has ordered the Pentagon to scale back joint military exercises with longtime close ally South Korea, surprisingly mentioning his “very good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as a motivating factor in the decision.

Trump said in a Truth Social posts that exercises, due to start on Monday, are costly and “send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile” to North Korea, which he said “has been unthreatening and respectful” during his time in office.

“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.

Not only did Trump have somewhat glowing things to say about Pyongyang – perhaps in an effort to again jump start the kind of direct diplomacy and meetings with Kim that marked his first term – but he at the same time denigrated some recent stances of South Korea on the global stage.

He invoked Seoul’s stance on the US-Israel war on Iran, which marked a huge disappointment for the White House.

“I recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, ‘No thanks!’” he said.

Still, Trump lamented that it is actually too late to cancel the drills, and so ordered War Secretary Pete Hegseth to “substantially reduce” them.

The 10-day Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise kicked off Monday, and involves tens of thousands of military personnel from the United States, South Korea participate – but also other allied countries such as Australia.

South Korea’s Ministry of Defense responded to media questions about Trump’s post by saying the military exercises would “proceed as previously notified and scheduled.”

Going into this past weekend North Korea issued a severe warning over the upcoming joint military exercise between the United States and South Korea, characterizing it as a rehearsal for an aggressive war and that it is is ready to respond.

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry described Friday that these planned drills look different, and will be more dangerous, compared to all prior ones of the past-half decade, in that they appear offensive in nature as the exercise will focus on modern warfare tactics.

“The US announced that the forthcoming exercises are quite different from the ones of the past five years and intended to master the ability of fighting a war on the basis of the new aspects of modern warfare,” the North Korea condemnation reads. 

“By doing so, it did not conceal its aim to complete preparations for the substantial military confrontation with the DPRK. This is tantamount to an admission that the exercises, which the US and the ROK describe as ‘annual’ and ‘defensive’ ones, are a rehearsal for an aggressive war,” the ministry added in a statement published by Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Beyond trying to possibly inject new life into Washington diplomacy with Pyongyang, it’s unclear what the ultimate aim of Trump’s conciliatory social media post is. Is he perhaps trying to signal China? Is he really just angry at Seoul? Or he’s maybe worried over Kim’s nuclear expanse and modernization drive, and so wishes to start dealing with that in more direction fashion?