South Korea\u2019s presidential Blue House said it was reviewing Trump\u2019s post and \u201chopes that the friendly relationship between the US and North Korean leaders will lead to meaningful dialogue between the two countries, opening discussions aimed at advancing peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
\t The allies would continue coordinating on their combined defense posture and military exercises, it said.<\/p>\n Responding to Trump\u2019s claim that President Lee Jae Myung had refused to join US efforts to denuclearize Iran, it said Seoul was discussing potential military contributions, while considering its defense readiness on the Korean Peninsula and domestic legal procedures.<\/p>\n A Pentagon spokesperson referred questions on the matter to the White House, which did not immediately respond to a request for details.<\/p>\n Up-and-down relationship<\/p>\n Trump has long sought to end or curtail military exercises with South Korea while clashing with Seoul over sharing the costs of stationing 28,500 US troops in South Korea and their role in securing the broader region.<\/p>\n North Korea, still technically at war with the South, routinely denounces the US-South Korean exercises as preparations for an invasion. Pyongyang last week fired a ballistic missile from its eastern coast towards the Sea of Japan, days after a similar North Korean short-range ballistic missile launch.<\/p>\n \u201cThis decision may be part of a larger effort to create a diplomatic opportunity with Pyongyang, as Trump has consistently wanted since coming back to office, although the haphazard nature of this move is unlikely to make much of an impression in Pyongyang,\u201d Jenny Town, head of the Stimson Center think tank\u2019s 38 North program, said in an email.<\/p>\n \t The relationship between Trump and Kim has been a roller coaster for years.<\/p>\n Trump once mocked the North Korean leader as \u201clittle rocket man\u201d and threatened Pyongyang with \u201cfire and fury,\u201d while Kim boasted that he would \u201ctame the mentally deranged US dotard with fire.\u201d<\/p>\n Yet they also took part in three summits, with Trump declaring, \u201cwe fell in love\u201d after exchanging letters with Kim. None of these efforts led to changes in North Korea\u2019s nuclear weapons or ballistic missile development.<\/p>\n Even as Trump on Sunday spoke warmly of North Korea, he pointed to South Korea\u2019s stance on the US-Israeli conflict with Iran.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile somewhat unrelated (?), I recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, \u2018No thanks!’\u201d Trump wrote.<\/p>\n Exercise shift to simulations<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear how the drills could be cut back, but in recent years, they have shifted away from live-fire exercises to computer-simulated missile and cyberattacks.<\/p>\n Victor Cha, head of the Korea program at Washington\u2019s Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Trump may be seeking greater influence over North Korea as Pyongyang has been heavily engaged in support of Russia in Ukraine.<\/p>\n \u201cThe other way to look at this is that Trump wants to engage Kim as a way to impede the Russia-NK ties,\u201d said Cha.<\/p>\n \t US military officials have said North Korean troops, who have fought alongside Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, have gained experience from the conflict, while Ukraine said last week that North Korean-made missiles were used in a Russian ballistic missile attack on a steel plant in Zaporizhzhia.<\/p>\n A high-ranking US Northern Command official, Lieutenant General Joseph Jarrard, last week warned that North Korea had successfully tested intercontinental ballistic missiles with \u201cenough boost to deliver a nuclear payload anywhere in North America.\u201d<\/p>\n Economic factors<\/p>\n While Trump has repeatedly called for South Korea to shoulder a bigger burden of defense costs, a US official this year called Seoul a \u201cmodel ally\u201d committed to increasing defense spending in line with US regional strategy.<\/p>\n There are also broader economic tensions.<\/p>\n \t A former US official who worked in the first Trump administration told Reuters he believed Trump is \u201cfrustrated with the intransigence\u201d of the South Korean administration in addressing economic issues.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Lee government has repeatedly pursued policies antagonistic to American companies and shown little interest in following through on the historic investment deal with the United States,\u201d the official said.<\/p>\n The countries signed a trade deal last year to lower Trump\u2019s auto tariffs in exchange for Seoul\u2019s commitment to invest $350 billion. South Korea has not announced details of its investment plan.<\/p>\n The allies have been at odds over a dispute involving US-listed e-commerce company Coupang, which is being investigated by Seoul over a massive data leak.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tNorth Korean leader Kim Jong Un (right) and US President Donald Trump prepare to shake hands at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone, South Korea, June 30, 2019. (AP Photo\/Susan Walsh, File)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP26229102642492-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tSouth Korean protesters stage a rally to oppose the joint military exercises, Ulchi Freedom Shield or UFS, between the US and South Korea, outside the US Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, August 17, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ahn Young-joon)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP24179119006833-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tSouth Korean army soldiers patrol along the barbed-wire fence in Paju, near the border with North Korea, June 27, 2024. (Ahn Young-joon\/AP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23256120062079-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tA photo showing North Korea\u2019s missile launch is displayed at the Unification Observation Post in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Sept. 13, 2023 (AP Photo\/Ahn Young-joon)<\/p>\n
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