By Enyichukwu Enemanna
US President, Donald Trump says Washington would reduce its military exercises with key regional ally South Korea, just hours before they were due to commence, citing his positive relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Seoul’s lack of assistance with Iran.
“Based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong Un, of North Korea, I am not happy with the fact that the United States has, long ago, agreed to participate in Joint Military Exercises with South Korea,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“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, to a Country that, as long as Donald J. Trump has been President, has been unthreatening and respectful.”
South Korea has been a close American ally for over 70 years and the two nations have a mutual defence pact, primarily designed to protect it from North Korea, a burgeoning military power that now posses nuclear warheads and intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The US and South Korea frequently hold joint military drills and South Korea hosts the largest US military installation overseas, Camp Humphreys – home to tens of thousands of American service members, their families and Korean nationals.
Ulchi Freedom Shield, the annual joint exercises, began on Monday as planned, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff told reporters.
The effect of Trump’s sudden announcement could not be immediately ascertained.
The drills, scheduled to run for 10 days, were designed to adapt to North Korea’s evolving capabilities and would incorporate training to counter drones, GPS disruption and cyberattacks, Reuters reported last week, citing a joint statement.
They are usually a significant joint exercise involving thousands of troops and major equipment. At least 18,000 South Korean troops were set to take part this year according to local authorities.
North Korea has long criticized joint US-South Korea exercises, with its foreign ministry last week calling the planned drills “a rehearsal for an aggressive war” and a “grave threat” to its security.
South Korea’s presidential Blue House said it was reviewing Trump’s comments, adding that it would continue working with the US on details related to the drills and the “maintenance of firm combined defense posture.”
In his social media post, Trump went on to raise his request for South Korea to help with the US war against 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.
