Trump: South Korea says ‘no thanks’ to his request to help denuclearise Iran

US President Donald Trump said he had asked his South Korean counterpart if Seoul wanted to join US efforts to disarm Iran of its nuclear weapons, but received a negative response. According to Axios, Trump noted on Truth Social that South Korea declined his request to help the US denuclearize Iran.

The development comes as Trump has been critical of joint military exercises between the US and South Korea. He said the exercises, slated to begin this week, are costly and send a signal that is "totally inappropriate and hostile" to North Korea, which he said has been "unthreatening and respectful" while he has been in the White House. As a result, Trump ordered the Pentagon to scale back the planned joint military exercises with South Korea.

The exercises, known as Ulchi Freedom Shield, were due to start on Monday and involved 18,000 South Korean soldiers. The US and South Korean forces were expected to practice joint operations in complex scenarios, including a live-fire exercise and distribution of prepositioned military equipment. Trump cited his "very good relationship" with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for condemning the drills.

Brief written by urgent.news from Middle East Eye, Jerusalem Post, PBS NewsHour, Axios, Associated Press — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.