(FILES) North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump cross south of the Military Demarcation Line that divides North and South Korea, after Trump briefly stepped over to the northern side, in the Joint Security Area (JSA) of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized zone (DMZ) on June 30, 2019.
Seoul – Annual war games between South Korea and the United States will end around a week earlier than planned, both countries said on Wednesday, after US President Donald Trump ordered the “inappropriate and hostile” drills scaled back.
Trump said on Sunday that he had told the Pentagon to curtail the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises — a day before they started — citing his “good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Pyongyang’s state media criticised the drills on Wednesday as a “most immediate and open threat”, without mentioning Trump’s order.
Hours later, Seoul’s military said the drills would wrap up on Friday, not on August 27 as originally planned.
“We have decided to adjust the UFS exercise period to run from the 17th to the 21st,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
The decision was made “at the suggestion of the US side”, it added.
The Pentagon said the “substantially reduced” drills would “preserve essential readiness and… (cause) no degradation to US training objectives”.
The exercises are designed to prepare for a possible attack by North Korea.
They were understood to consist of two phases: the first, focused on defending against potential North Korean threats, was due to run until Friday; and the second, focused on a counteroffensive, from August 24 to 27.
The second phase is now understood to have been scrapped.
A South Korean military official told AFP that Seoul viewed the decision as “unusual”.
Nuclear-armed North Korea has long voiced outrage at the exercises, considering them dress rehearsals for an invasion.
Wednesday’s commentary by the state-run Korean Central News Agency said they pose “the most immediate and open threat” to North Korea and “regional security”.
It did not mention Trump’s order or his desire to resume talks with Kim, with whom he has hinted at being in contact.
Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said Pyongyang had deliberately avoided mentioning Trump.
North Korea was “sticking to general principles as if completely unaware of” Trump’s comments, he told AFP.
“Showing awareness could suggest a degree of mutual understanding,” but feigning ignorance signals that the issue could become a key bargaining point in any future talks with Trump, Hong said.
– ‘Much safer’ –
In the initial announcement on his Truth Social platform, Trump described the drills as unfriendly towards a country that had been respectful to him.
South Korea’s Foreign Minister Cho Hyun told lawmakers on Wednesday that Seoul had not been informed in advance of Trump’s plan to downsize them.
“Neither our government nor US government officials knew in advance what President Trump revealed via Truth Social,” Cho said.
Trump has insisted that he is making the situation “much safer” through his ties with Kim.
Asked on Monday whether Kim had responded to his reques…