US set to reduce 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 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 said it could also be an attempt, driven by domestic pressure, to shift the focus from the prolonged Iran conflict, 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 long 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 the conditions for dialogue with the DPRK. In 2018, Trump suspended the annual 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 in the Korean Peninsula and advancing the political settlement of the Korean Peninsula issue serve the common interests of all parties.

The ROK's presidential office said on Monday that friendly relations between DPRK and US leaders will lead to meaningful dialogue between the two countries and discussions aimed at advancing peace and stability in 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, or UFS, joint drill.

The 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 side regarding adjustments to the scale of the exercise, 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.

Pyongyang also vowed to respond to a new level of threat with a new level of deterrence.

Since taking office in June last year, ROK President Lee Jae-myung has repeatedly made reconciliatory gestures toward the DPRK. On Saturday, the ROK's Liberation Day, Lee said in a speech that he hopes to begin discussions with the DPRK to formally end the Korean War as the directly involved parties, refraining from unnecessary confrontation and replacing the unstable armistice with a peace regime.

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

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

Noting that Trump also posted a photo showing him standing side by side with Kim at the demilitarized zone between the ROK and the DPRK in 2019, Lee said the announcement to reduce military exercises with the ROK can be seen as something that was offered to reengage with the DPRK.

"I don't think this was fully discussed with the ROK side before the announcement was made," Lee said.

Kim Dong-yup, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, in a commentary published on the online news publication Pressian on Monday, said that Trump's instruction 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 cost-sharing complaints, his personal relationship with Kim and transactional sentiments toward the ROK.

kelly@chinadailyapac.com