Trump says US scaling back military drills with S Korea

US President Donald Trump has said he ordered the Pentagon to scale back "inappropriate and hostile" military drills with South Korea, hours before the exercises began.

Mr Trump cited his "good relationship" with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, as he said he was unhappy about the drills that were designed to prepare for a possible attack by Pyongyang.

South Korea's defence ministry said it was proceeding as "previously notified and scheduled" with the annual exercise, which has prompted several rounds of warnings from Pyongyang last week.

"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," Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

"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," he added.

As it was too late to cancel the drills, Mr Trump said he had ordered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to "substantially reduce" them.

The annual Ulchi Freedom Shield joint military exercises are scheduled to run until 27 August, with about 18,000 South Korean military personnel participating.

Mr Trump has long sought to end or curtail military exercises with South Korea while clashing with Seoul over sharing the costs of stationing 28,500 US troops in South Korea and their role in securing the broader region.

North Korea, still technically at war with ‌the South, routinely denounces the US-South Korean exercises as preparations for an invasion. Pyongyang ⁠last week fired a ballistic missile from its eastern coast towards the Sea of Japan, the South Korean and Japanese militaries said, days after a similar North Korean short-range ballistic missile launch.

The relationship between Mr Trump and Mr Kim has been a roller coaster for years.

Mr Trump once mocked the North Korean leader as "little rocket man" and threatened Pyongyang with "fire and fury," while Mr Kim boasted that he would "tame the mentally deranged US ‌dotard with fire."

Yet they also took part in three summits, with Mr Trump declaring, "we fell in love" after exchanging letters with Mr Kim. None of these efforts led to changes in North Korea's nuclear weapons or ballistic missile development.

Even as Mr Trump spoke warmly of North Korea in his Truth Social post, he pointed to South Korea's stance on the US-Israeli conflict with Iran.

"While ⁠somewhat unrelated (?), I recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, 'No thanks!'" Mr Trump wrote.

It is unclear ‌how the drills could be cut back, but in recent years, they have shifted away from live-fire exercises to computer-simulated missile and cyberattacks.

Colonel Ryan Donald, spokesman for the US and South Korean Combined Forces Command, had said the drills would simulate combat against North Korean troops battle-hardened by deployment in the Russia-Ukraine war.

The US stations about 28,500 troops in South Korea to bolster the country's defences against military threats from Pyongyang, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

But Mr Trump has repeatedly challenged long-standing alliances, including with NATO, as he criticised Western partners for refusing to back his war against Iran.

The exercise will have a heightened focus on drone warfare, GPS disruption and the role of cyber attacks, Colonel Donald had said.

Experts say that North Korea has expanded its nuclear and missile capabilities since the breakdown of Mr Trump's negotiations with Mr Kim, whom he last met in person in 2019.

North Korea has also sent troops and munitions for Moscow's war in Ukraine, in exchange for financial support, food, energy and military technology, according to analysts.

Ukraine recently said that up to 50,000 North Korean troops are due to deploy to Russia, although it has provided no evidence to back the claim or a timeframe for the deployment.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in making the claim, asked South Korea to supply air defence systems to protect against Russian missiles, a request that has gone unanswered by the South.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has reversed the stance of his predecessor since taking power in June 2025, offering Pyongyang talks without preconditions and to formally end the Korean War.

But the leadership of North Korea has so far only vowed to accelerate its armament build-up, with Mr Kim branding the South the "most hostile state".