On August 16 local time, U.S. President Trump posted a message on social media, stating that due to his good relationship with North Korea's supreme leader Kim Jong Un, he was dissatisfied with the earlier agreement by the United States to participate in joint military exercises with South Korea.
He pointed out that these military exercises are not only costly, with most of the expenses borne by the United States, but they also send a completely inappropriate and hostile signal to a country that has never posed a threat and has shown respect during his presidency.
He stated that since canceling military exercises is now too late, he has instructed U.S. Defense Secretary Hagel to ‘significantly reduce’ the scale of joint military exercises with South Korea.
Trump also said that he recently asked the South Korean president whether they were willing to work with the United States towards “Iran's denuclearization.” The response from the South Korean president was “No, thank you!”
On the 15th, Trump posted a photo of himself with Kim Jong-un, stating that the two got along well.
According to Yonhap, this photo shows the two of them together in Panmunjom in 2019. In June of this year, Trump also released a photo of the two meeting in Singapore in 2018.
Reports say that analysts believe that Trump’s recent uploading of photos with Kim Jong-un aims to promote his achievements and emphasize that he is the only Western leader who has established a good relationship with Kim Jong-un. This move also intends to send a signal that he intends to further advance the North-South summit talks.
South Korea and the United States will conduct a regular joint military exercise codenamed 'UFS' from August 17 to 27.
According to a report by Yonhap earlier, the Korean Joint Staff Headquarters and the United States-Korea Joint Forces Command announced the exercise plan on the 10th. They stated that this exercise will be conducted in conjunction with recent combat training results and other actual circumstances. This exercise is expected to enhance the joint defense posture between South Korea and the United States, and provide strong support for advancing the transfer of combat command authority during wartime.
It is reported that South Korea and the United States will conduct assessments related to the transfer of wartime command authority during this exercise. They will also carry out ‘Soldier’s Shield’ (WS) field mobility training that is connected to command post training scenarios, in order to enhance actual combat and readiness capabilities. During the exercise, there will be a total of 14 field mobility training sessions, all conducted at battalion level or higher.
According to Korean Central News Agency reports, on the 13th, a spokesman for the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the military exercise was essentially a rehearsal for an aggressive war.
