“South Korea and the United States maintain close coordination to uphold a strong joint defense posture, joint exercises, and training will continue to be closely coordinated,” the South Korean presidency said in a statement sent to the AFP news agency.
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On Monday, it also expressed hope that the personal relationship between D. Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would encourage them to return to the negotiating table.
“The government is closely following President Trump’s message on social media today and hopes that the friendly relations between the US and North Korean leaders will lead to meaningful dialogue,” the statement said.
Unexpected Trump statement: ordered to reduce the scale of US and South Korean military exercises
US President Donald Trump, just hours before the military exercises with South Korea were to begin on Monday, said that these exercises, designed to prepare for a possible North Korean attack, are “inappropriate and hostile,” and therefore their scale will be reduced.
Trump’s comments ahead of the annual “Ulchi Freedom Shield” exercises in South Korea showed his willingness to challenge long-standing military alliances. He also recalled his negotiations with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his first term.
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“Based on my very good relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, I am not happy that the United States has long agreed to participate in joint military exercises with South Korea,” Trump wrote on the social network “Truth Social.”
“These exercises are not only expensive, with the majority of these costs (as usual!) covered by the United States, but they also send a completely inappropriate and hostile signal to a country that, while Donald J. Trump is president, poses no threat and behaves respectfully,” he continued.
Trump added that it is already too late to cancel the exercises, so he ordered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “substantially reduce them.”
