US President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to “substantially” reduce planned joint military exercises with South Korea, citing his “very good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Seoul’s refusal to join US efforts to denuclearise Iran.
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Trump said the military exercises, scheduled to begin this week, would send an inappropriate and hostile signal to North Korea, which he claimed had remained “unthreatening and respectful” during his presidency.
In a post on social media, Trump said: "Based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong Un, of North Korea, I am not happy with the fact that the United States has, long ago, agreed to participate in Joint Military Exercises with South Korea. These exercises are not only costly, with much of these costs paid for by the United States of America (as usual!), 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."
