President Donald Trump reiterated his claim Monday that the reason behind the scrapping of the U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises were the high costs of the drills and not any discussion he had with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un.
Trump was adamant he did not discuss the matter with Kim at their second summit, which took place last week in Hanoi, Vietnam.
“The military drills, or war games as I call them, were never even discussed in my mtg w/ Kim Jong Un of NK — FAKE NEWS!” he tweeted. “I made that decision long ago because it costs the U.S. far too much money to have those ‘games’, especially since we are not reimbursed for the tremendous cost!”
Politico writes that the United States and South Korea announced they would end their joint military drills, which North Korea insists are a direct provocation and preparation for an invasion, and replace them with smaller exercises.
The announcement came on Saturday, just days after Trump met with Kim in Vietnam to discuss denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
In announcing the end of the military exercises, South Korea’s national defense minister, Jeong Kyeong-doo, and the acting U.S. secretary of Defense, Patrick Shanahan, said the move reflected their “desire to reduce tension and support our diplomatic efforts to achieve complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a final, fully verified manner.”
A day after Trump tweeted that the exercises cost too much and that ending them would save millions.
“The reason I do not want military drills with South Korea is to save hundreds of millions of dollars for the U.S. for which we are not reimbursed. That was my position long before I became President” Trump tweeted.
The Foal Eagle and Key Resolve drills were replaced with the so-called “Dong Maeng” training, which means “alliance” in Korean. The new drills began on Monday and will last until March 12.
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