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WASHINGTON — <\/span>President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon on Sunday to scale back planned joint military exercises with South Korea<\/a>, saying it declined to help denuclearize Iran<\/a> and citing his good relationship with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. <\/p>\n Trump said in a social media post that the exercises slated to begin this week are not only costly but \u201csend a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile\u201d to North Korea, which he said \u201chas been unthreatening and respectful\u201d while Trump has been in the White House.<\/p>\n \u201cTherefore, and 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!\u201d Trump wrote. The president added that he recently asked South Korea\u2019s president to join the U.S. in its efforts to denuclearize Iran, \u201cand they said, \u2018No thanks!\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n The 11 days of exercises involving 18,000 South Korean soldiers<\/a> were designed to beef up readiness against North Korean threats.<\/p>\n North Korea on Friday threatened unspecified stern steps against the U.S. and South Korea, describing their military drills<\/a> as a \u201ca rehearsal for an aggressive war\u201d that are triggering greater instability in the region. <\/p>\n The warning was typical of the harsh rhetoric that North Korea often deploys ahead of major U.S.-South Korean military exercises. Experts say North Korea has often used its rivals\u2019 drills as a pretext to ramp up testing activities<\/a> to expand its weapons arsenals and promote public support for the reclusive North Korean leader.<\/p>\n U.S. and South Korean forces were expected to practice joint operations in complex scenarios, including a live-fire exercise to test joint precision targeting and maneuver, a wet gap crossing, and distribution of prepositioned military equipment, according to the U.S. military.<\/p>\n The U.S. military has said the summertime Ulchi Freedom Shield<\/a> exercises reinforce “the role of the alliance as the linchpin for regional peace and security\u201d and reaffirm “the ironclad commitment between the United States and the Republic of Korea to defend their homelands.\u201d <\/p>\n The joint training comes days after North Korea resumed ballistic missile testing<\/a> activities that are banned by the U.N. Earlier this month, South Korea, the U.S. and Japan detected the launch of a short-range ballistic missile from North Korea in what was the North\u2019s first ballistic weapons testing activity since late June. The missile landed in the waters off North Korea\u2019s east coast. North Korea has been pushing hard to enlarge its nuclear and missile arsenals since Kim\u2019s high-stakes diplomacy with Trump<\/a> collapsed in 2019. Experts say Kim likely believes a bigger weapons arsenal would increase his chances for wresting more concessions from the U.S. in future. negotiations.<\/p>\n Trump met with the North Korean leader three times during his first term to discuss the country\u2019s nuclear program, most recently in 2019. Since returning to office, Trump has expressed interest in continuing those discussions.<\/p>\n Trump’s announcement came a day after he posted a photo of himself standing next to North Korea’s Kim, writing that the two leaders get along great \u201cdespite the unfriendly look on this particular picture.\u201d<\/p>\n This is not the first time that Trump has sought to end the exercises. During his first term he also issued a surprise announcement<\/a> that called the wargames \u201cprovocative.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe will be stopping the war games, which will save us a tremendous amount of money, unless and until we see the future negotiation is not going along like it should,\u201d Trump told reporters after his 2018 meeting with Kim in Singapore.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n