South Korea Was Given No Notice Before Trump Announced Drill Cut, Foreign Minister Says

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said Wednesday that Seoul was given no notice before President Donald Trump announced that he would be scaling back joint military operations between the two countries.“Neither our government nor U.S. officials knew what President Trump wrote on his Truth Social," Cho told the National Assembly Committee on Foreign Affairs and Unification. "We were not notified in advance.” Cho added, however, that Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back was in “close consultation” with his U.S. counterparts regarding the reductions to South Korea-U.S. military exercises. Trump on Sunday announced in a Truth Social post that he had instructed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “substantially reduce” joint military exercises with South Korea, citing the country’s refusal to participate in the U.S.-Israel war against Iran and his “very good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trump called the joint exercises “costly” and “totally inappropriate and hostile” to North Korea, which he said has been “unthreatening and respectful” throughout his presidency. Both the Pentagon and South Korea have confirmed that joint operations have been reduced following Trump’s ...