Trump says US to scale back military drills with South Korea after it stayed out of Iran war
2 hours ago
<img src="https://healthylife7.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/fde5dbb0-99c6-11f1-b604-2bfb19ba7385.jpg.webp" alt="Getty Images North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the South and North Korea on 30 June 2019″>
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President Donald Trump has said the US will “substantially reduce” joint <a href="https://healthylife7.com/trump-orders-scale-back-of-military-exercises-with-south-korea-after-refusal-to-help-with-irans-denuclearization/" title="Trump orders scale-back of military exercises with South Korea after refusal to help with Iran's denuclearization”>military exercises with South Korea, citing his “very good relationship” with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un
He also noted on Truth Social that South Korea had recently declined to join the US in the “denuclearisation” of Iran
“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,” Trump posted
Seoul said the drills with the US would proceed “as scheduled”. Pyongyang has not yet commented. It comes after North Korea this month conducted ballistic missile tests banned by the United Nations
Trump said in his social media post on Sunday that it was “too late to cancel”, as the US and South Korea were due to start their annual military exercises on Monday
He 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!'”
Trump’s announcement came less than 24 hours after he posted an old photograph of himself and Kim from 2018, writing the two were great friends “despite the unfriendly look on this particular picture”
Last week, US and South Korean military leaders held a joint press conference announcing Ulchi Freedom Shield
They said the 11-day event would be similar in scale to previous years, with about 18,000 South Korean soldiers participating
During the news conference, military leaders also mentioned North Korea’s deployment of troops to aid Russia’s war against Ukraine
US military spokesperson Ryan Donald said “our training accounts for that threat”, referring to North Korean soldiers returning from the battlefield. About 28,500 American military personnel are stationed in South Korea
On Friday, North Korea’s foreign ministry condemned the joint military drills as “a rehearsal for an aggressive war”
The joint exercises come days after South Korea, the US and Japan detected the second North Korean missile test in days
Pyongyang has accelerated efforts to expand its nuclear and missile programmes since the collapse in 2019 of Kim’s high-profile diplomacy with Trump during his first term in the White House
He became the first ever sitting US president to set foot in North Korea when he visited seven years ago
Trump’s pointed remark about South Korea in his social media post seemed to hint at possible frustration with Seoul for declining to make direct military or logistical contributions to the US hostilities with Iran
He has also expressed displeasure with other allies for their hesitance to get involved in the conflict, including Japan, France and the UK
Trump’s move to downsize joint military exercises with South Korea is not without precedent
He suspended the exercises entirely in 2018, during denuclearisation negotiations with Kim
The exercises were again scaled back in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic
Last week, South Korea’s president proposed talks with its northern neighbour on officially ending the war between the two that is technically still active since an armistice was signed in 1953
South Korea proposes talks to officially end war with North
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