President Trump wants to curtail military exercises with South Korea, saying they were hostile to North Korea. But under Mr. Kim, the North has become increasingly belligerent toward the South.
The South Korean and United States militaries view their annual drills in South Korea as more critical than ever. The stakes have risen dramatically as North Korea has gained battlefield expertise with drones and modern warfare by deploying troops to support Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The summer exercise had barely begun on Monday when President Trump denounced it, dealing yet another blow to the seven-decade-old alliance between Washington and Seoul. Under Mr. Trump, bilateral relations have already come under immense strain from his punishing tariffs on South Korean exports. And his transactional diplomacy has frustrated South Korea, most recently when he appeared to put Saudi Arabia on the path to enriching nuclear fuel on its own soil, a demand Seoul has made for years.
In recent years, North Korea has not only expanded its nuclear arsenal but also repeatedly threatened to use it against South Korea, labeling its neighbor a “most hostile enemy.” Its leader, Kim Jong-un, has also forged a mutual defense treaty with Moscow, dispatching troops and weapons to support Russia’s war against Ukraine. Despite these escalations, Mr. Trump, in a social media post, characterized North Korea as “unthreatening and respectful” while boasting of his “very good relationship” with Mr. Kim.
In the same post, he also criticized the decades-old joint military drills with South Korea as “not only costly” but “totally inappropriate and hostile” toward 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,” he said. “Based on the fact that it is too late to cancel, I have instructed Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to substantially reduce the Joint Military Exercises!”
