U.S. President Donald Trump said North Korea responded positively to his request to resume talks delivered to Kim Jong-un, chairman of the State Affairs Commission. Trump then again emphasized that he would "significantly scale back" the South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises, showing off improved relations between North Korea and the United States.
By contrast, he strongly criticized South Korea for not joining the U.S.-led military operation against Iran and for balking at a sharp increase in defense cost-sharing. Experts said the open display of discontent toward ally South Korea and the conciliatory stance toward adversary North Korea stand in stark contrast, sending shock waves through the South Korea-U.S. alliance.
According to major foreign media reports on the 17th, Trump, meeting with reporters in the Oval Office that day, confirmed that Kim Jong-un had responded to the U.S. offer of talks. When asked by reporters how North Korea responded, Trump answered briefly, "very positive." He did not disclose when or how North Korea specifically replied. Trump stressed, "Kim Jong-un has always treated me with great respect," adding, "I understand him and he understands me." He then mentioned former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, saying Kim disliked them but got along very well with him.
While opening the door to dialogue with North Korea, Trump unleashed blunt complaints at South Korea, telling it to play the role of an ally. The previous day, citing the reason that "large-scale military exercises could send an inappropriate signal to North Korea," Trump ordered defense secretary Pete Hegseth to significantly scale back the South Korea-U.S. joint drills. That day as well, Trump laid out without filters the details of a recent phone call with President Lee Jae-myung and directly criticized the South Korean government.
In particular, Trump claimed he asked South Korea for support regarding the Iran military operation but that President Lee rejected it. Aimed at Lee, Trump said, "We have 39,000 U.S. troops there protecting you from your neighbor Kim Jong-un, and yet you won't help us with a very easy military operation we will conduct in Iran," criticizing it as "really strange."
Trump added that in response to Lee saying, "We don't want to get involved," he retorted, "When a particular country won't help us, we can't go around protecting every country." The 39,000 U.S. troops in Korea Trump mentioned appears to be an incorrect figure compared with the actual 28,500 service members. Trump then renewed pressure to raise the defense cost-sharing, recalling that he had sought $10 billion from South Korea in the past but failed to reach a deal.
Bloomberg, citing experts, noted that "Trump's decision to scale back the South Korea-U.S. joint exercises over South Korea's lack of cooperation on the Iran issue could weaken U.S. deterrence against adversaries such as China and North Korea." As U.S. pressure shakes the foundation of traditional alliances, assessments also say South Korea's diplomatic and security strategy is facing a major test.