US to scale down joint military drills with ROK

United States President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he has ordered the Pentagon to "substantially reduce" joint military exercises with the Republic of Korea, announcing the decision just hours before the two countries' annual drill kicked off.

Observers said the abrupt message might be interpreted as the Trump administration's intention to engage with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea for future talks, while some also said it could be an attempt, driven by domestic pressure, to shift the focus from the prolonged Iran war in which the US has been mired.

"These exercises are not only costly, with much of these costs paid for by the United States of America (as usual), but send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile, to a country that, as along as Donald J Trump has been President, has been unthreatening and respectful," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social, referring to the DPRK as he cited his "very good relationship" with the country's top leader Kim Jong-un.

During Trump's first term, the US and the ROK had postponed or scaled back their combined exercises to create conditions for dialogue with the DPRK. In 2018, Trump suspended the exercise after his first meeting with Kim in June that year.

When asked if China would support renewed dialogue between the US and the DPRK, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lin Jian said during a regular news briefing on Monday that maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and advancing political settlement of the Korean Peninsula issue serve the common interests of all parties.

ROK's presidential office said on Monday that friendly relations between the DPRK and US leaders will lead to meaningful dialogue between the two countries and the start of discussions aimed at advancing peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

The ROK has also been closely coordinating with the US on the joint exercises, it said, according to Yonhap News Agency.

Trump's announcement was posted at 5:04 pm US Eastern Time on Sunday, or at 6:04 am ROK time on Monday, the date of the start of the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield joint drill.

ROK's military authorities said later that the UFS combined exercise, running through Aug 27, is being carried out normally and there has been no specific request from the US regarding adjustments to the exercise scale, according to Yonhap.

The DPRK has condemned the US-ROK joint military exercise, criticizing it as "a rehearsal for an aggressive war" and posing "a grave threat" to the security of the DPRK as well as the region, the DPRK's official Korean Central News Agency reported on Friday.

Since taking office last June, ROK President Lee Jae-myung has repeatedly made reconciliatory gestures toward the DPRK.

"There was an indication that he (Trump) might make some overtures toward the DPRK," Lee Sangho, professor of political science and diplomacy at Daejeon University in the ROK, told China Daily.

Reasons behind

Though Trump mentioned in his post about the costs paid by the US on the joint military drills and the ROK's refusal to join the US in the "denuclearization" of Iran, Lee Sang-ho, who is also president of the Korea Association of National Intelligence Studies, said the main reason for the announcement was because Trump is looking for measures to boost his popularity as he is facing challenges from the war with Iran and the upcoming US midterm elections in November.

Trump's instructions may not be the result of a carefully designed peace strategy for the Korean Peninsula, but rather a decision driven by a mix of frustrations over costs, his personal relationship with Kim, and transactional sentiments toward the ROK, Kim Dong-yup, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, wrote in a commentary published on online news publication Pressian on Monday.