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US President Donald Trump tweets his reasons for wanting to halt South Korea-US joint military exercises on Mar. 3. (Trump’s Twitter account)
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Indicate desire to halt exercises in post-summit press conference in Hanoi
US President Donald Trump explained that the decision by South Korea and the US not to hold large-scale joint military exercises was motivated by budget cuts and reduced tensions with North Korea.
“The reason I do not want military drills with South Korea is to save hundreds of millions of dollars for the U.S. for which we are not reimbursed,” Trump tweeted on Mar. 3.
“That was my position long before I became President,” he added.
“Also, reducing tensions with North Korea at this time is a good thing!” he continued.
In a telephone conversation on the evening of Mar. 2, South Korean Minister of National Defense Jeong Kyeong-doo and acting US Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan agreed to halt the two sides’ annual Key Resolve and Foal Eagle joint military exercises as of this year. Relating this decision in a statement, the US Defense Department said the two sides would be “ensuring the continued combined defense posture of U.S.-ROK combined forces to meet any security challenge.”
Following the first North Korea-US summit in Singapore last June, South Korean and US authorities moved to suspend their Ulchi-Freedom Guardian (UFG) exercises scheduled for August along with two Korea Marine Exercise Program (KMEP) drills.
The latest decision was seen as expected. In a press conference after the second North Korea-US summit on Feb. 28, Trump expressed a negative view on activities that threatened to have a damaging impact on North Korea-US dialogue, including the resumption of joint military exercises with South Korea and imposition of additional sanctions against the North. His comments were seen as an indication of his commitment to sustaining dialogue with Pyongyang.
By Gil Yun-hyung, staff reporter
Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
