South Korea Hopes for Talks Between US and North Korea After Trump Scales Back Military Drills

South Korea said Monday it hopes the United States and North Korea will restart peace talks. This came just hours after President Donald Trump announced he had ordered the U.S. military to cut back its joint training exercises with South Korea. Trump said he made the decision because of his friendly relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The move surprised many people in South Korea, where keeping the country safe from North Korea is seen as one of the most important issues.

The joint military training, called the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises, had already begun Monday morning as planned. The drills last 11 days and happen every summer. It was not yet clear which parts of the training Trump wanted to reduce. About 18,000 South Korean soldiers were taking part in this year's exercises, which were planned to be similar in size to past years.

Trump explained his decision in a post on social media. He said the exercises are expensive and send what he called a 'hostile' message to North Korea. He also said North Korea has been 'unthreatening and respectful' since he returned to the White House. Trump told Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to 'substantially reduce' the drills going forward.

North Korea did not immediately respond to Trump's announcement. In the past, North Korea has called the U.S.-South Korea exercises an 'invasion rehearsal' and threatened strong reactions. Earlier this month, North Korea fired two ballistic missiles into the sea, which experts believe was a protest against the planned drills.

South Korea's presidential office responded to Trump's announcement with cautious hope. It said it hopes the 'friendly relationship' between Trump and Kim could lead to 'meaningful dialogue' between the two countries. South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung has long supported improving ties with North Korea. Since taking office, Lee has taken steps in that direction, such as turning off loudspeakers near the border that used to play K-pop music and news toward North Korea.

Despite these efforts, North Korea has refused to meet with South Korea or the U.S. since 2019. That was when Kim Jong Un's nuclear talks with Trump fell apart without a deal. Since then, Kim has worked to build up North Korea's weapons, testing more missiles and producing more nuclear materials. He has also grown closer to Russia and China, which has given him more power on the world stage.

Experts say Trump's move shows he wants to reconnect with Kim, but they warn it may not be enough to bring North Korea back to the table. Kim said in September 2025 that he has 'good personal memories' of Trump, but added that talks could only happen if the U.S. stops pushing North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons entirely. Experts believe Kim wants major rewards — like relief from economic sanctions — in exchange for only small steps toward giving up nuclear weapons.

Professor Leif-Eric Easley of Ewha University in Seoul warned that cutting back the drills could hurt the U.S.-South Korea alliance. He said reducing the exercises could slow South Korea's ability to defend itself and weaken the ability to prevent future conflicts in Asia. Some South Koreans are already less trusting of the U.S. after Trump started a trade war with tariffs and has taken a deal-making approach to security partnerships.

This is not the first time Trump has tried to scale back these drills. After his first meeting with Kim in 2018, Trump suddenly stopped the summertime exercises, calling them 'very provocative' and 'tremendously expensive.' Another expert, Professor Kim Dong-yub from the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said North Korea feels less pressure to talk now than it did in 2018. However, he predicted North Korea will likely take note of Trump's gesture and wait to see if the U.S. takes further steps to ease tensions before agreeing to any talks.