Seoul hopes for a 'constructive dialogue' between Washington and Pyongyang

South Korea expressed hope that U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would return to the negotiating table, a day after Trump announced a reduction in the scale of joint military exercises underway with Seoul.

The South Korean presidential office said in a statement received by Agence France-Presse that “the government is closely following the message posted by President Trump on social media and hopes that the friendly relationship between the leaders of the United States and North Korea will lead to constructive dialogue.”

Seoul also reaffirmed its commitment to “close coordination” with the United States regarding its “defensive posture.”

The South Korean presidential office clarified in its statement that “South Korea and the United States have maintained close coordination on maintaining a strong joint defensive posture and on their joint training and exercises, and will continue to coordinate closely.”

Trump had said he ordered the Pentagon to reduce the scale of the annual joint military exercises with South Korea hours before their launch, citing the “good relationship” between him and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Recent reports confirmed that Trump directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to scale back U.S. participation in the exercises, while South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense announced that the drills would proceed “as planned.”

Trump described the annual joint exercises, which simulate responding to a North Korean attack on South Korea, as “inappropriate and hostile.”

Trump wrote on his platform, Truth Social: “Based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong Un... I am not satisfied that the United States agreed long ago to participate in military exercises with South Korea.”

He added: “These exercises are not only costly, with the United States bearing a large share of these costs (as usual), but they also send a highly inappropriate and hostile signal to a country that, as long as Donald Trump has been president, has shown respect and posed no threat.”

The “Ulchi Freedom Shield” exercises, which began on Monday and will last for 11 days, are taking place amid growing rapprochement between Pyongyang and Moscow, with North Korea providing military support, including ground forces, to Russia in its war against Ukraine.