Trump Criticises US-South Korea Joint Military Drills, Citing Relationship with Kim

Trump’s comments in a social media post on Sunday came as South Korea and the US began their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise on Monday, putting Seoul in an awkward position of defending the alliance while not undercutting his latest overture to Kim, according to analysts.

“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,” he wrote on Truth Social, calling the drills “costly” and a “totally inappropriate and hostile” signal to North Korea.

Analysts say Trump appears to desire talks with Kim again and give him a foreign policy win. But they see little prospect of a breakthrough given North Korea’s growing alignment with Russia and China, its nuclear ambitions and its distrust of Washington after the failed Hanoi summit in February 2019.

In the same post, Trump said he had also asked South Korean President Lee Jae Myung whether Seoul would like to join the effort to denuclearise Iran, and was told: “No thanks.”

On Saturday, Trump posted a photo on social media of him meeting Kim at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom in June 2019, repeating his claim that he and Kim “get along great”.

In June, Trump also posted photos from his first meeting with Kim in Singapore in June 2018, their second summit in Hanoi and their Panmunjom meeting, fuelling speculation about his desire to rekindle ties with the North Korean leader.