Trump explains reduced joint drills with South Korea
Welcome to The Hill's Defense & NatSec newsletter {beacon} Defense &National Security Defense &National Security The Big Story Trump explains reduced joint drills with South Korea President Trump said he was turned off by South Korea not agreeing to help the U.S. denuclearize Iran, spurring him to reduce the joint military exercises. © AP...
President Trump has ordered the Pentagon to scale back joint military exercises with South Korea. According to Trump, the decision was made because South Korea declined to help the US denuclearize Iran. The exercises, called Ulchi Freedom Shield, were set to begin and are designed to prepare for the prospect of war with nuclear-armed North Korea.
The decision to reduce the drills was announced by Trump on Sunday, citing his "good relationship" with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trump described the exercises as "costly" and "inappropriate" because Kim had been "unthreatening and respectful" to him.
A Pentagon official said the Department of Defense is "actively working on executing" Trump's directive to reduce the drills. The move has been seen as a conciliatory gesture toward North Korea. South Korea has reacted to the decision in measured terms, expressing hope that the Trump-Kim relationship will lead to meaningful dialogue.
Brief written by urgent.news from The Hill, New Straits Times, The Korea Times, CBS News — 4 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
