Donald Trump says the US should not participate in Monday's military drills with South Korea, writing that this is based on his "very good relationship with North Korea's Kim Jong-Un".
However, the exercise has been planned for a long time and, as Trump writes on Truth Social, "cannot be canceled."
The exercise is too expensive, he writes, but above all, it "sends signals that are completely inappropriate and hostile" towards North Korea - a country that, according to Trump, "has only been respectful and not behaved threateningly" during his time as president.
He says he has therefore instructed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to significantly scale back the exercise.
Want to meet Kim
Shortly after Trump's remarks, South Korea's Ministry of Defense stated that the exercise had begun and was "progressing as planned."
The presidential office in Seoul wrote in a comment to AFP that the two countries maintain “close coordination to maintain a strong defense community” and that this will continue. The office also writes that it hopes that the “friendly relationship between the leaders of the United States and North Korea will lead to meaningful dialogue.”
In his Truth post, Trump suggests that South Korea is not a good ally, because the country's President Lee Jae-Myung "said no thanks" to participating in the Iran war, which Trump refers to as "the denuclearization of Iran."
Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un met three times during Trump's first term in the White House and the American president has expressed some admiration for the dictator.
"I know Kim Jong-Un very well ... we just couldn't get it together," he said in October last year during a trip to Asia.
North Korea has this week condemned the military exercise between the US and South Korea.
Cooperating with Russia
At the same time, the United States and South Korea have been close allies since the Korean War, and the United States has around 28,500 soldiers stationed in the country to strengthen deterrence against North Korea.
North Korea has also increased its cooperation with Russia and, according to Ukraine, sent soldiers, missiles and ammunition intended for the war against Ukraine, in exchange for, among other things, economic support and military technology.
The rapprochement with Russia prompted the American spokesman for the US-Korean forces, Ryan Donald, to warn that the threat from North Korea has changed.
They have learned their lessons and brought the knowledge home, he warned ahead of the exercise, which is scheduled to last August 17-27.
