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US, South Korea cut short joint drills after Trump criticism
Allies US and South Korea are currently holding joint military exercises. The drills will, however, wrap up earlier than planned after Trump ordered cuts.
https://p.dw.com/p/5J2uj Advertisement South Korea and the United States will cut short their ongoing annual war games by about half, the two nations said on Wednesday, after US President Donald Trump deemed the drills "inappropriate and hostile" and ordered a substantial reduction in his country's participation.
The summertime exercises began on Monday and were slated to run till August 27.
The drills will now end on August 21, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, adding that the decision was made "at the suggestion of the US side".
The two allies also agreed on partial adjustment to the scope of the drills, including downsizing some joint field training exercises, the Chiefs of Staff said.
On Sunday, Trump announced on his Truth Social platform that he had directed the Pentagon to scale back the exercises, saying it was too late to cancel them altogether.
Trump said that the drills were not only costly but "send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile" to Seoul's arch-rival North Korea , which he said has been "unthreatening and respectful" to Washington as long as he has been President.
Trump also highlighted his "good relationship" with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Trump ended his Sunday statement noting that South Korea had refused to help the US in actions against Iran.
"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!'" the US President said.
On Wednesday, North Korea's state media denounced the drills as s a "most immediate and open threat", but did not mention Trump's overture .
A commentary published by Pyongyang's official news agency KCNA called the US and South Korea "warmongers" raising tension on the Korean peninsula.
"Our exercise of its right to self-defense will continue to completely neutralize the enemies' military threat," the commentary said.
South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung has said that the exercises were defensive in nature and Seoul had no intention of using them to attack North Korea or heighten tension in the region.
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The Ulchi Freedom Shield is largely a computer-simulated command post drill designed to prepare for a possible attack by North Korea.
The first focused on defending against potential threats from the north and was scheduled to go till Friday.
The second phase of the drills, which has reportedly been scrapped, would have seen the participants practicing a counteroffensive until August 27.
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