President Donald Trump has claimed he will “substantially reduce” imminent joint U.S. military drills with South Korea while bragging about his “very good relationship” with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
The military drills between the U.S. and South Korea, as part of Ulchi Freedom Shield, were due to start on Monday and run until August 27.
The drills, which happen twice a year, were expected to involve around 18,000 South Korean troops, alongside U.S. forces and personnel from 11 of the 18 member states of the United Nations Command.
However, in a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump said that he was “not happy” with America’s participation in the drills “based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong Un”.
He added that the exercises were costly and that they “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.”
His post stated that because it was too late to completely cancel the drills just hours before they were due to begin, he had ordered Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to “substantially reduce” them.
Trump then appeared to criticize South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, adding, “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!’”
On Friday, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry threatened unspecified action against the U.S. and South Korea, describing their joint military drills as “a rehearsal for an aggressive war” that are triggering greater instability in the region.
“It is our consistent principle of ensuring security to respond to a new level of a threat with a new level of a deterrent,” the statement said, as reported by Politico. North Korea also said the drills would be of a “more serious provocative nature and dangerousness than last year.”
When asked about Trump’s Sunday evening post, a spokesman for South Korea’s defense ministry said: “We will proceed as previously notified and scheduled,” according to the South China Morning Post.
The Daily Beast has contacted South Korea’s defense ministry and the Pentagon for comment.
On Saturday, Trump shared a photo of himself with the North Korean leader taken in June 2019, with the caption “Despite the unfriendly look on this particular picture, there are many where we’re smiling, Kim Jong Un and I get along GREAT!”
The 11-day military drills were designed to strengthen South Korean soldiers’ readiness against North Korean threats. The joint practices aim to “fortify the combined defense posture” and enhance Alliance response capabilities against a “spectrum of security threats.” The drills include live, virtual, constructive and field-based training, engaging personnel from various military services.
Trump has long flaunted his “very good” relationship with North Korea’s supreme leader.
Speaking in the Oval Office last August, Trump said, “I know him better than anybody, almost, other than his sister, his sister knows him pretty well.”
He added, “I’m not supposed to say I really like him a lot, because if I do then I get killed in the fake news media, but I got along with him very well.”
