Trump orders Pentagon to cut back military exercises with South Korea

US President Donald Trump on Sunday instructed the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” joint military exercises with long-term Asian ally South Korea, citing the cost of the drills and Seoul’s refusal to take part in US actions against Iran.

Hours before the exercises were scheduled to begin, Trump said on his Truth Social site that he was “not happy” the US had agreed to participate and highlighted his “very good relationship” with Kim Jong Un, the leader of nuclear-armed and heavily sanctioned North Korea.

“These exercises are not only costly... 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 wrote.

The annual Ulchi Freedom Shield joint military exercises are scheduled to run until August 27, with about 18,000 South Korean military personnel participating.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff told Reuters the drills started on Monday as scheduled.

South Korea’s presidential Blue House said it was reviewing Trump’s post and expressed hope that the friendly relationship between the US and North Korean leaders would lead to meaningful dialogue and help advance peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

The allies would continue coordinating on their combined defence posture and military exercises, it said.

Responding to Trump’s claim that President Lee Jae Myung had refused to join US efforts to denuclearise Iran, the Blue House said Seoul was discussing potential military contributions while considering its defence readiness on the Korean Peninsula and domestic legal procedures.

A Pentagon spokesperson referred questions on the matter to the White House, which did not immediately respond to a request for details.

Trump has long sought to end or curtail military exercises with South Korea while clashing with Seoul over sharing the costs of stationing 28,500 US troops in the country and their role in securing the broader region.

North Korea, still technically at war with South Korea, routinely denounces the US-South Korean exercises as preparations for an invasion. Pyongyang last week fired a ballistic missile from its eastern coast towards the Sea of Japan, days after a similar North Korean short-range ballistic missile launch.

The latest move could be part of a broader effort by Trump to create a diplomatic opening with Pyongyang, said Jenny Town, head of the Stimson Center think tank’s 38 North programme.

“This decision may be part of a larger effort to create a diplomatic opportunity with Pyongyang, as Trump has consistently wanted since coming back to office, although the haphazard nature of this move is unlikely to make much of an impression in Pyongyang,” Town said.

Trump and Kim have had an unpredictable relationship over the years.

Trump once mocked the North Korean leader as “little rocket man” and threatened Pyongyang with “fire and fury”, while Kim threatened to “tame” the US president with fire.

The two leaders later held three summits, with Trump declaring that “we fell in love” after exchanging letters with Kim. None of those efforts led to changes in North Korea’s nuclear weapons or ballistic missile programmes.

Even as Trump spoke warmly of North Korea on Sunday, he pointed to South Korea’s position on the US-Israeli conflict with Iran.

“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!’” Trump wrote.

It remains unclear how the drills could be reduced, although in recent years they have shifted away from live-fire exercises towards computer-simulated missile and cyberattacks.

Victor Cha, head of the Korea programme at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Trump may be seeking greater influence over North Korea as Pyongyang has become heavily involved in supporting Russia in Ukraine.

“The other way to look at this is that Trump wants to engage Kim as a way to impede the Russia-NK ties,” Cha said.

US military officials have said North Korean troops fighting alongside Russia in its invasion of Ukraine have gained battlefield experience. Ukraine also said last week that North Korean-made missiles were used in a Russian ballistic missile attack on a steel plant in Zaporizhzhia.

A high-ranking US Northern Command official, Lieutenant General Joseph Jarrard, last week warned that North Korea had successfully tested intercontinental ballistic missiles with “enough boost to deliver a nuclear payload anywhere in North America.”

Trump has repeatedly called for South Korea to shoulder a larger share of defence costs, although a US official this year described Seoul as a “model ally” committed to increasing defence spending in line with US regional strategy.

Broader economic tensions also strain the relationship.

A former US official who served in the first Trump administration told Reuters that Trump was “frustrated with the intransigence” of the South Korean government in addressing economic issues.

“The Lee government has repeatedly pursued policies antagonistic to American companies and shown little interest in following through on the historic investment deal with the United States,” the former official said.

The countries signed a trade deal last year to reduce Trump’s auto tariffs in exchange for Seoul’s commitment to invest $350 billion. South Korea has not announced details of its investment plan.

The allies are also at odds over a dispute involving US-listed e-commerce company Coupang, which Seoul is investigating over a massive data leak.