AFP quoted US President Donald Trump in a post on Truth Social on August 16 (local time) as saying that the US will reduce the scale of joint military exercises planned with South Korea.
The statement was made by him right before the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise began in South Korea. This is an 11-day exercise aimed at maintaining the ability to respond to security situations on the Korean Peninsula.
President Trump expressed dissatisfaction with the US's long-standing maintenance of joint military exercises with South Korea because they are both costly and send completely inappropriate and hostile signals to North Korea.
According to Mr. Trump, the US is bearing a significant part of the cost of organizing exercises and maintaining large-scale training activities with South Korea is inappropriate in the context that he is having good relations with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Mr. Trump said it was too late to cancel the exercise, so he directed Secretary of State for War Pete Hegseth to significantly reduce the scale of the exercise.
When asked about Mr. Trump's statement, the South Korean Ministry of National Defense later said that the exercise had begun and would take place as planned and scheduled in advance.
For a long time, North Korea has condemned the large-scale exercises between South Korea and the United States. Previously, Colonel Ryan Donald, spokesman for the US-South Korea Joint Command, revealed that this exercise is expected to involve 18,000 South Korean soldiers and US forces stationed here, with a focused focus on unmanned aerial combat, the ability to respond to GPS signal interruption and situations related to cyberattacks.
