South Korea on edge over Trump’s call to cut military drills, goodwill for Kim
Trump appears to desire a diplomatic coup ahead of the midterm elections by hoping to announce another summit with Kim, analysts say
Trump’s comments in a social media post on Sunday came as South Korea and the US began their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise on Monday, putting Seoul in an awkward position of defending the alliance while not undercutting his latest overture to Kim, according to analysts.
“Based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong-un of 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 wrote on Truth Social, calling the drills “costly” and a “totally inappropriate and hostile” signal to North Korea.
Analysts say Trump appears to desire talks with Kim again and give him a foreign policy win. But they see little prospect of a breakthrough given North Korea’s growing alignment with Russia and China, its nuclear ambitions and its distrust of Washington after the failed Hanoi summit in February 2019.