US President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to scale back planned joint military exercises with South Korea, saying it declined to help denuclearise Iran and citing his good relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Mr Trump said in a social media post on Sunday, local time, that the exercises slated to begin this week were costly and sent a "totally inappropriate and hostile" signal to North Korea, which he said had been "unthreatening and respectful" while he had been in the White House.
"Therefore, and based on the fact that it is too late to cancel, I have instructed Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to substantially reduce the Joint Military Exercises!" Mr Trump wrote.
Mr Trump added that he recently asked South Korea's president to join the US in its efforts to denuclearise Iran, "and they said, 'No thanks!'"
When asked about the post, South Korea's defence ministry said the exercises would proceed as scheduled.
"We will proceed as previously notified and scheduled," a ministry spokesperson said in a brief statement.
A Pentagon spokesperson referred questions on the matter to the White House, which did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for more information on next steps for the drills.
The 11-day exercises, involving 18,000 South Korean soldiers, were designed to boost readiness against North Korean threats.
North Korea on Friday threatened unspecified stern steps against the US and South Korea, describing their military drills as "a rehearsal for an aggressive war" and accusing them of triggering greater instability in the region.
The warning was typical of the harsh rhetoric North Korea often deploys ahead of major US-South Korean military exercises.
Experts say North Korea has often used its rivals' drills as a pretext to ramp up testing activities to expand its weapons arsenals and promote public support for the reclusive North Korean leader.
US and South Korean forces were expected to practise joint operations in complex scenarios, including a live-fire exercise to test joint precision targeting and manoeuvring, a wet gap crossing, and distribution of pre-positioned military equipment, according to the US military.
The US military has said the summertime Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises reinforce "the role of the alliance as the linchpin for regional peace and security" and reaffirm "the ironclad commitment between the United States and the Republic of Korea to defend their homelands".
The joint training comes days after North Korea resumed ballistic missile testing activities that the United Nations bans.
Earlier this month, South Korea, the US and Japan detected the launch of a short-range ballistic missile from North Korea in what was the North's first ballistic weapons testing activity since late June.
The missile landed in the waters off North Korea's east coast. North Korea has been pushing hard to enlarge its nuclear and missile arsenals since Mr Kim's high-stakes diplomacy with Mr Trump collapsed in 2019.
Experts say Mr Kim likely believes a bigger weapons arsenal would increase his chances of wresting more concessions from the US in future negotiations.
Mr Trump met with the North Korean leader three times during his first term to discuss the country's nuclear program, most recently in 2019.
Since returning to office, Mr Trump has expressed interest in continuing those discussions.
His announcement came a day after he posted a photo of himself standing next to North Korea's Kim, writing that the two leaders get along great "despite the unfriendly look on this particular picture."
This is not the first time Mr Trump has sought to end the exercises.
During his first term, he also made a surprise announcement calling the war games "provocative."
"We will be stopping the war games, which will save us a tremendous amount of money, unless and until we see the future negotiation is not going along like it should," Mr Trump told reporters after his 2018 meeting with Mr Kim in Singapore.
