Trump went to meet Kim Jong-un

US President Donald Trump said he had instructed Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth to reduce the scale of joint US-South Korean military exercises.

"Based on the fact that it is too late to cancel them, I have instructed to significantly reduce joint military exercises," he wrote on the Truth Social network.

Trump stressed that he and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have "very good relations," and the current exercises, which were agreed "a long time ago," send "a completely inappropriate hostile signal." He added that during his presidency, North Korea "posed no threat and behaved respectfully." He also noted that these maneuvers cost the United States too much.

In his statement, Trump also mentioned that South Korea refused to support the United States "on the issue of denuclearization of Iran," calling this decision inappropriate in the context of current cooperation.

The day before, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung offered North Korea talks on ending the war. He promised to take steps aimed at ending the war and replacing the "unstable truce system" with a peaceful regime.

The DPRK and South Korea are formally at war. The Korean War of 1950-1953 ended with an armistice, but no peace treaty was signed. The 1953 treaty obliges the United States to defend South Korea in the event of an external attack. A contingent of American troops is stationed in the country on a permanent basis.