SOURCE :- THE AGE NEWS
US President Donald Trump said he had instructed the Pentagon to substantially reduce joint military exercises with South Korea in a social media post that also mentioned Seoul’s refusal to take part in actions against Iran.
Trump said on his Truth Social site on Monday morning (AEST) that, although it was too late to cancel the latest round of exercises entirely, he was “not happy” that the US had previously agreed to participate.
The US president also cited his “very good relationship” with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
“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,” he wrote.
Trump also pointed to South Korea’s stance 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 Denuclearisation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, ‘No thanks!’” Trump wrote.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for more information on Trump’s request to reduce the military drills. The Pentagon also did not immediately respond.
The annual Ulchi Freedom Shield joint military drills are scheduled to run from August 17 to 27.
The exercises involving 18,000 South Korean soldiers are designed to beef up readiness against North Korean threats.
North Korea on Friday threatened unspecified stern steps against the US and South Korea, describing their military drills as a “a rehearsal for an aggressive war” that were triggering greater instability in the region.
The warning was typical of the harsh rhetoric that North Korea often deploys ahead of major US-South Korean military exercises.
Experts say North Korea has often used its rivals’ drills as a pretext to ramp up testing activities to expand its weapons arsenals and promote public support for Kim.
US and South Korean forces were expected to practice joint operations in complex scenarios, including a live-fire exercise to test joint precision targeting and manoeuvre, a wet gap crossing, and distribution of pre-positioned military equipment, according to the US military.
The US military has said the exercise “reinforces the role of the alliance as the linchpin for regional peace and security” and reaffirms “the ironclad commitment between the United States and the Republic of Korea to defend their homelands”.
The joint training comes days after North Korea resumed ballistic missile testing activities that are banned by the UN.
Earlier this month, South Korea, the US and Japan detected the launch of a short-range ballistic missile from North Korea in what was the North’s first ballistic weapons testing activity since late June. The missile landed in the waters off North Korea’s east coast.
North Korea has been pushing hard to enlarge its nuclear and missile arsenals since Kim’s high-stakes diplomacy with Trump collapsed in 2019. Experts say Kim likely believes a bigger weapons arsenal would increase his chances for wresting more concessions from the US in future negotiations.
US military officials have said that North Korean troops, who have fought alongside Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, had also gained experience from the conflict, including the growing use of unmanned systems, electronic warfare and cyber operations.
Ukraine said last week that North Korean-made missiles were used in a Russian ballistic missile attack on a steel plant in Zaporizhzhia that killed seven workers and forced a production halt, with Russia’s Zircon hypersonic missiles also used in the attack.
Trump met with Kim three times during his first term to discuss the country’s nuclear program, most recently in 2019. Since returning to office, Trump has expressed interest in continuing those discussions.
Trump’s announcement came a day after he posted a photo of himself standing next to Kim, writing that the two leaders get along great “despite the unfriendly look on this particular picture”.
This is not the first time that Trump has sought to end the exercises. During his first term he also issued a surprise announcement that called the war games “provocative”.
“We will be stopping the war games, which will save us a tremendous amount of money, unless and until we see the future negotiation is not going along like it should,” Trump told reporters after his 2018 meeting with Kim in Singapore.
Reuters, AP
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