Aug 16 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he had instructed the Pentagon to substantially reduce joint military exercises with South Korea in a social media post that also mentions Seoul’s refusal to take part in actions against Iran.
Trump said in a post on his Truth Social site that, although it was too late to cancel the exercises entirely, he was “not happy” that the United States had previously agreed to participate. The U.S. president also cited his “very good relationship” with North Korean leader 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 U.S.-Israeli conflict with 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.
The annual Ulchi Freedom Shield joint military drills are scheduled to run from August 17 to 27.
(Reporting by Costas Pitas; Editing by Sergio Non and Edmund Klamann)
