US president says he’s ‘not pleased’ in regards to the drills, citing his ‘superb relationship’ with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
Printed On 17 Aug 2026
US President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to reduce joint army workout routines with shut ally South Korea, citing his “superb relationship” with North Korean chief Kim Jong Un.
Trump mentioned in a social media put up on Sunday that the workout routines, on account of begin on Monday, are pricey and “ship a sign that’s completely inappropriate and hostile” to North Korea, which he mentioned “has been unthreatening and respectful” whereas Trump has been within the White Home.
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“Primarily based on my superb relationship with Kim Jong Un, of North Korea, I’m not pleased with the truth that the USA has, way back, agreed to take part in Joint Army Workout routines with South Korea,” Trump wrote on Fact Social.
He additionally talked about Seoul’s stance on the US-Israel struggle on Iran.
“I lately requested the President of South Korea in the event that they wish to be part of us within the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and so they mentioned, ‘No thanks!’” he mentioned.
Trump added that it was too late to cancel the drills, so he had ordered Secretary of Protection Pete Hegseth to “considerably scale back” them.
When requested about Trump’s put up, South Korea’s Ministry of Defence mentioned the army workout routines would “proceed as beforehand notified and scheduled”.
The annual Ulchi Freedom Defend drills, scheduled to run for 11 days from August 17 to 27, will contain 18,000 South Korean troopers. They’re a daily summer time fixture for South Korea’s armed forces and their US allies, designed to organize them for defence towards the nuclear-armed North Korea, which is battle-hardened from its involvement in Russia’s struggle on Ukraine.
Pyongyang has all the time been angered by the workout routines, saying they’re rehearsals for an invasion.
Final week, North Korea denounced the most recent drills as a provocation that heightens tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
A spokesperson for North Korea’s Ministry of International Affairs mentioned on Friday that the US-Japan-South Korea army cooperation is popping right into a nuclear alliance, and Pyongyang will reply to a brand new stage of menace with a brand new stage of deterrent.
The next day, Trump posted a photograph of himself standing subsequent to Kim and wrote that the 2 leaders obtained alongside nice, “regardless of the unfriendly look on this explicit image”.
Throughout his first time period, Trump met Kim thrice.
This isn’t the primary time that the US president has sought to finish the workout routines with South Korea. After a historic 2018 summit in Singapore with Kim, he referred to as the army drills “costly” and “provocative“.
