Trump orders military to ‘substantially reduce’ joint exercises with South Korea. Here's why

US President Donald Trump on Sunday ordered the Pentagon to scale back planned joint military exercises with South Korea, calling them costly and hostile to North Korea. He cited his “very good relationship” with Kim Jong Un and separately added that Seoul had declined to join US efforts to denuclearize Iran. 

“…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 said in a post on TRUTH Social.

Trump said in the post that the exercises slated to begin this week 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.

He wrote, “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."

“These exercises are not only costly, with much of these costs paid for by the United States of America (as usual!), but send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile, to a Country that, as long as Donald J. Trump has been President, has been unthreatening and respectful,” Trump said.

The US president added, “While somewhat unrelated (?), 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!” Thank you for your attention to this matter."

Why does it matter?

The move is the latest example of Trump appearing to side with an ally against a leader that previous administrations have cast as an adversary, the Associated Press reported.

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.

The 11 days of exercises involving 18,000 South Korean soldiers were designed to beef up readiness against North Korean threats.

The US military said, according to AP, that 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.”

US and South Korean forces were expected to practice joint operations in complex scenarios, including a live-fire exercise to test joint precision targeting and manoeuvre, a wet gap crossing and the distribution of prepositioned military equipment, according to the US military.

The joint training is set to start days after North Korea resumed ballistic missile testing activities that are banned by the UN.

Earlier this month, South Korea, the US and Japan detected the launch of a short-range ballistic missile from North Korea in what was the North’s first ballistic weapons testing activity since late June.

The missile landed in the waters off North Korea’s east coast. 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 chances of wresting more concessions from the US in future negotiations.

North Korea's warning

On Friday, North Korea threatened unspecified stern steps against the US and South Korea, describing their military drills as a “a rehearsal for an aggressive war” that are triggering greater instability in the region.

The warning was typical of the harsh rhetoric that North Korea often deploys ahead of major US-South Korean military exercises.

Experts told AP that North Korea has often used its rivals’ drills as a pretext to ramp up testing activities to expand its weapons arsenal and promote public support for the reclusive North Korean leader.

Trump met with the North Korean leader three times during his first term to discuss the country’s nuclear programme, most recently in 2019. Since returning to the office, Trump has expressed interest in continuing those discussions.

Trump's announcement came a day after he posted a photo of himself standing next to North Korea's Kim, writing that the two leaders get along great “despite the unfriendly look on this particular picture.”