South Korea on Monday expressed hopes for resumption of diplomacy between the U.S. and North Korea to ease animosities on the Korean Peninsula, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said he ordered annual U.S. military exercises with South Korea to be scaled back. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Associated Press.
Trump cited his good relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for the decision. The announcement baffled many in South Korea, a key U.S. ally in Asia where national security is a top priority due to threats from nuclear-armed North Korea.
The 11-day, summertime Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises began Monday morning as scheduled and it wasn’t known which parts of the training were being downsized. North Korea did not immediately respond to the announcement. North Korea previously threatened strong responses to the U.S.-South Korean exercises, which it views as an invasion rehearsal.
Experts say Trump’s step signals his willingness to reengage with Kim, but the North Korean leader, now emboldened by his advancing nuclear arsenal and expanding military cooperation with Russia, won’t likely return to talks unless he is assured of serious U.S. concessions.
Trump said in a social media post that the exercises 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.
Trump instructed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “substantially reduce” the exercises, he said, adding that he recently asked South Korean President Lee Jae Myung if they would join the U.S. in the “denuclearization” of Iran, “and they said, ‘No thanks!’”