US president says he’s ‘not glad’ in regards to the drills, citing his ‘excellent relationship’ with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
Printed On 17 Aug 2026
US President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to reduce joint navy workouts with shut ally South Korea, citing his “excellent relationship” with North Korean chief Kim Jong Un.
Trump stated in a social media put up on Sunday that the workouts, because of begin on Monday, are expensive and “ship a sign that’s completely inappropriate and hostile” to North Korea, which he stated “has been unthreatening and respectful” whereas Trump has been within the White Home.
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“Based mostly on my excellent relationship with Kim Jong Un, of North Korea, I’m not proud of the truth that the USA has, way back, agreed to take part in Joint Navy Workouts with South Korea,” Trump wrote on Fact Social.
He additionally talked about Seoul’s stance on the US-Israel battle on Iran.
“I lately requested the President of South Korea in the event that they want to be part of us within the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, they usually stated, ‘No thanks!’” he stated.
Trump added that it was too late to cancel the drills, so he had ordered Secretary of Protection Pete Hegseth to “considerably scale back” them.
When requested about Trump’s put up, South Korea’s Ministry of Defence stated the navy workouts would “proceed as beforehand notified and scheduled”.
The annual Ulchi Freedom Defend drills, scheduled to run for 11 days from August 17 to 27, will contain 18,000 South Korean troopers. They’re a daily summer season fixture for South Korea’s armed forces and their US allies, designed to organize them for defence in opposition to the nuclear-armed North Korea, which is battle-hardened from its involvement in Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Pyongyang has at all times been angered by the workouts, saying they’re rehearsals for an invasion.
Final week, North Korea denounced the latest drills as a provocation that heightens tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
A spokesperson for North Korea’s Ministry of International Affairs stated on Friday that the US-Japan-South Korea navy cooperation is popping right into a nuclear alliance, and Pyongyang will reply to a brand new stage of menace with a brand new stage of deterrent.
The next day, Trump posted a photograph of himself standing subsequent to Kim and wrote that the 2 leaders acquired alongside nice, “regardless of the unfriendly look on this explicit image”.
Throughout his first time period, Trump met Kim 3 times.
This isn’t the primary time that the US president has sought to finish the workouts with South Korea. After a historic 2018 summit in Singapore with Kim, he known as the navy drills “expensive” and “provocative“.
