Trump calls North Korea ‘unthreatening,’ orders reduction in South Korea military drills

President Donald Trump said Sunday that he has ordered the Pentagon to substantially reduce joint military exercises with South Korea, citing their cost and his relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Trump announced the move on his Truth Social hours before the United States and South Korea kicked off Ulchi Freedom Shield, one of the allies’ two major annual exercises. 

“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 wrote. 

He said the exercises are costly and “send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile” toward North Korea, which he described as being “unthreatening and respectful” during his presidency. 

“Therefore, and 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!” wrote Trump, who also mentioned ongoing hostilities with Iran in the post. 

“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!” Trump wrote. 

The exercise is proceeding as planned, according to a Monday morning text message from a spokesman for the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. Some South Korean government officials must speak to the press on condition of anonymity.

U.S. Forces Korea spokesman Kim Eun-chong referred an email request for comment Monday to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, which did not immediately respond to an after-hours email.

South Korea’s presidential office hopes the friendly relationship between U.S. and North Korean leaders will lead to meaningful dialogue and discussions aimed at advancing peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, Yonhap News reported Monday, citing an unnamed Blue House official.

South Korea and the U.S. have closely coordinated on maintaining a strong combined defense posture and on combined exercises and training, and will continue to coordinate on related matters going forward, the official added.

South Korean lawmaker Na Kyung-won, of the opposition People Power Party, wrote on Facebook that Trump is “shaking” the nations’ combined defense posture, a key pillar of the alliance, by flaunting his relationship with Kim and citing the cost of the military exercises.

Na wrote that Washington is bypassing Seoul and encouraging direct dealings with Pyongyang, because South Korea has failed to demonstrate the will to defend itself or the strategic value it brings to the alliance.

Pyongyang has long objected to the joint drills, saying they are preparations for an invasion. Washington and Seoul describe them as defensive. 

Ulchi Freedom Shield is slated to run for 10 days and include live, virtual and field training designed to improve the ability of U.S. and South Korean forces to operate together.

Australian army Lt. Gen. Scott Winter, deputy commander of U.N. Command, said the allies accounted for Pyongyang’s increased use of technology, its ballistic-missile development and lessons learned by North Korean troops supporting Russia as they prepared for drills. 

The command is “very conscious” that North Korea has used its relationship with Moscow as an opportunity to test ballistic missile systems and gain contemporary battlefield experience, Winter told reporters Thursday in Seoul. 

North Korea has sent as many as 14,000 troops to support Russia, which has been at war with Ukraine since February 2022, according to reports citing Ukrainian intelligence. 

Winter’s remarks came on the heels of two North Korean ballistic missile launches in the days leading up to the exercise. 

Both missiles, launched Wednesday and Aug. 6 off North Korea’s eastern coast, fell into the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone. 

The number of combined field exercises involving battalion-size units or larger is expected to decline from 17 last year to 14 this year, according to South Korean media reports. Winter said the number of individual training events does not necessarily indicate an exercise’s scale or complexity. 

Scaling back the joint drills “can damage alliance coordination, slow the process of South Korea taking on greater responsibility for its own defense, and weaken deterrence against possible conflicts in Asia,” Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha University in Seoul, said via email Monday.

“The cost savings from downsizing drills are marginal, while the diplomatic benefits for relations with North Korea are doubtful,” he wrote. 

While Trump’s post suggests a willingness to reengage, North Korea is “busy profiting from Russia’s war against Ukraine while modernizing its own military,” Easley said.