KORU.S. President Donald Trump has ordered a drastic reduction in the scale of the South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises. Emphasizing his very good relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, analysts suggest this move may be aimed at securing a diplomatic breakthrough through the resumption of North Korea-U.S. dialogue amid the prolonged war in Iran.
Washington correspondent Lee Hanseok has more.
At 6:00 a.m. today, Korea time (August 17), right as the South Korea-U.S. joint exercise Ulchi Freedom Shield kicked off, U.S. President Trump made his decision to downsize the drills public.
Writing on his social media, he stated that it was too late to cancel them, but that he had instructed the Secretary of Defense to significantly scale down the exercises.
Highlighting his very good relationship with leader Kim Jong Un, he noted that the drills cost massive amounts of money and send a hostile signal to a country that has neither threatened the United States nor shown respect since he became president.
Yesterday (August 16), Trump also stoked anticipation by posting a photo of his impromptu meeting with Kim at Panmunjom, reiterating that they are on good terms.
[Donald Trump / U.S. President (April 7): North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and I get along well. You know he has said very nice things about me, right?]
While joint drills were suspended or scaled back immediately after the 2018 North Korea-U.S. summit in Singapore, this is the first time he has publicly ordered a reduction since entering his second term.
What stands out is that Trump was the first to propose a major reduction in the joint exercises, which North Korea has sensitively reacted to by labeling them war rehearsal drills for invasion.
This is interpreted as a calculation to draw a positive response from North Korea—which has been cozying up to China and Russia while showing little interest in dialogue with the U.S.—through a tangible concession.
Analysts suggest that if this leads to substantial outcomes such as a halt to ICBM provocations or the resumption of North Korea-U.S. dialogue, it could provide a vital diplomatic breakthrough for President Trump ahead of the midterm elections in November, while he remains bogged down in the six-month-old war in Iran.
Expressing a degree of grievance, Trump also mentioned—calling it somewhat off-topic—that he had asked the South Korean president whether he would join in denuclearizing Iran, only to be told the offer was declined.
(Video reporter: Park Eun-ha, Video editor: Jung Seong-hun)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.
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