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Trump cites cost as reason for canceling joint 'war games'

Tuesday, 05 March 2019 2:12 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 05 March 2019 3:02 PM ]

US President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference following the second US-North Korea summit in Hanoi on February 28, 2019. (AFP photo)

United States President Donald Trump has cited "cost" as the reason for canceling hated annual joint military exercises with South Korea.

Trump tweeted on Monday that he cancelled the war games to save hundreds of millions of US dollars that were never returned.

“I made that decision long ago because it costs the US far too much money to have those ‘games’, especially since we are not reimbursed for the tremendous cost!”

The military drills, or war games as I call them, were never even discussed in my mtg w/ Kim Jong Un of NK—FAKE NEWS! I made that decision long ago because it costs the U.S. far too much money to have those “games”, especially since we are not reimbursed for the tremendous cost!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2019

Trump added that another benefit of cancelling the annual joint springtime military drills was that it reduced tensions with North Korea, which was "a good thing".

Pentagon officials said instead of the massive war games, the US and South Korea will now hold a series of small-scale drills. The traditional exercises tested American and South Korean forces military readiness against North Korea.

North Korea, however, frowned upon the military exercises describing them as training and rehearsals for invading the North.

Trump's latest comments came shortly after his failure to cinch a deal with his North Korean counterpart.

PressTV-US 'dealmaker in chief' walks away from Kim summit

In an unexpected turn of events, the US president will end denuclearization talks with the North Korea leader much earlier than excepted.

After the recent summit, North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui told South Korea’s Yonhap news agency that Kim Jong-un was no longer interested in discussing denuclearization with Trump.

“I have a feeling that Chairman Kim may have lost the will (to continue) North Korea-US dealings ... It's my personal feeling," he said on Friday.

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