In a new Truth Social post, US President Donald Trump has ordered the Department of Defense (DoD) “to substantially reduce the joint military exercises” with the Republic of Korea (ROK) Armed Forces.
The post comes one day after ROK President Lee Jae-myung proposed talks with northern counterparts to formally end the Fatherland Liberation War and discuss peaceful coexistence.
Trump explained that the decision was based on his “very good relationship with Kim Jong Un” and that he is “not happy with the fact that the United States has, long ago, agreed to participate in joint military exercises.”
He noted the exercises are “very costly” and “send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile to a country [that] has been unthreatening and respectful.”
On Friday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) had sharply criticized the joint military drills and labelled them “a rehearsal for an aggressive war.”
Lee allegedly refused to join war on Iran
Trump in the same message claimed that he had asked Lee to “join us in the denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” which Lee allegedly refused.
In March, not long after the start of the war against Iran, Lee had noted that the southern government could not stop the redeployment of US Patriot missile defense systems from the ROK to West Asia.
Additionally, the ROK president previously angered officials from Palestine’s occupied areas after sharing a 2024 clip where IDF soldiers are seen pushing a body off a roof in the West Bank and calling for a thorough investigation.