Trump orders cuts to US-South Korea drills, citing ties with Kim Jong Un

**Janet Jaleel** (0:00)
This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Janet Jaleel, and in the early hours of Monday, the 17th of August, these are our main stories. Donald Trump says he's dramatically scaling back joint military exercises with South Korea, saying they're too costly, and threaten his very good relationship with North Korea's leader. The campaign for this year's elections in Brazil gets underway with President Lula taking on the son of his old rival, Jair Bolsonaro. In football, Cameroon thrashed Malawi to win the Women's Africa Cup of Nations for the first time.
Also in this podcast…

**Christian Parton** (0:42)
It's incredibly risky. We're talking about a shark species here that is a true apex predator. You wouldn't walk into the Serengeti and try and put your hand on the face of a lion.

**Janet Jaleel** (0:52)
The social media influencer is getting bitten by sharks while chasing the perfect photo. Despite a history of tense relations between the US and North Korea over Pyongyang's nuclear programme, back in 2018 Donald Trump became the first American president to meet the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

**Donald Trump** (1:17)
Our whole relationship with North Korea and the Korean Peninsula is going to be a very much different situation than it has in the past. And we have developed a very special bond.

**Janet Jaleel** (1:31)
At the time, the summit was hailed as historic, but in the end, it failed to deliver a Mr Trump's pledge to persuade North Korea to dismantle its nuclear programme even after he briefly set foot on North Korean soil a year later in a demilitarised zone that separates the two Koreas.

**Donald Trump** (1:48)
Stepping across that line was a great honour. A lot of progress has been made. A lot of friendships have been made. And this has been, in particular, a great friendship.
We met and we liked each other from day one. And that was very important.

**Janet Jaleel** (2:02)
Well, fast forward seven years and on the eve of joint US South Korean military exercises, President Trump abruptly announced that he was substantially reducing them, arguing that they're too expensive and they threaten his quote, very good relationship with Kim Jong Un. This despite warnings that North Korea has learnt new battlefield tactics from sending its soldiers to fight in Ukraine alongside Russian forces. Mr. Trump also said that South Korea had declined to join the US in quote, the denuclearization of Iran.
Well, those military drills have begun since he made that post. I heard more from our correspondent in Seoul, Jake Kwon.

**Jake Kwon** (2:46)
I think it's very unclear what prompted him to post that on social media. But it is certainly something we have heard from Mr. Trump back in 2018, right after he met with North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, for the first time in Singapore.
He had this bombshell announcement. He called this joint exercise with South Korea provocative. And he called it war games. And he called for suspension. And it was indeed suspended for four years. First two during his term, and then next two years during the COVID time before he was scaled back up. I think he, for him, a lot of the times when he talks about the alliance between South Korea and the United States, it is an unfair relationship where the US is spending too much money and not getting enough in return. Whereas for Seoul, this exercise is very much core to the military alliance between the US and South Korea. It is very much the symbol of the friendship and the alliance between the two countries.

**Janet Jaleel** (3:45)
And Jake, Mr. Trump called North Korea unthreatening, but many countries are concerned not just about Pyongyang's weapons program, but also about the growing ties between Russia and North Korea, with North Korean soldiers and weaponry being sent to help Russian forces in Ukraine.

**Jake Kwon** (4:01)
Yes, and this is why, you know, many people who may be reading this post from President Trump, that this may be him trying to reach out to Kim Jong Un to get him back to the dialogue. But North Korea is right now too busy, really, you know, upgrading their weapons and their tactics on the front, fighting against Ukrainian. They're making billions of dollars in cash from their soldiers being sent there. And many experts are pointing out that North Korean capability of fighting war is upgrading day by day, and they're also testing their missiles and nuclear weapons. So although he's calling North Korea unthreatening, many of the experts might disagree with such view. And certainly people in Seoul may be alarmed by that statement.

**Janet Jaleel** (4:45)