Seoul Voices Hope for US-North Korea Talks After Trump Orders Drills Scaled Back

South Korea's government said Monday it hopes renewed goodwill between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un could pave the way for fresh dialogue, even as Trump's surprise decision to scale back annual military exercises with Seoul stirred unease over the allies' readiness against North Korean threats.

The presidential office said Seoul hopes the personal rapport between the two leaders will translate into "meaningful dialogue" that could open discussions on peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, adding that the government would make the necessary diplomatic efforts to support that outcome. President Lee Jae Myung, a liberal who has pushed to improve inter-Korean relations since taking office last year, on Saturday proposed talks aimed at formally ending the 1950-53 Korean War, which stopped with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

Trump's move came just as the 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises began as scheduled Monday, with roughly 18,000 South Korean troops taking part alongside U.S. forces. In a social media post, Trump instructed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to "substantially reduce" the drills, arguing they were costly and sent a hostile signal to a North Korea he described as having been "unthreatening and respectful" during his time in office. It remained unclear which portions of the exercise would actually be trimmed.

The announcement drew sharp criticism from South Korea's main opposition People Power Party, which accused Lee's government of playing down public security concerns to chase the prospect of U.S.-North Korea diplomacy. Trump also disclosed he had asked Lee whether Seoul would join Washington in pressuring Iran over denuclearization, saying the South Korean side had declined.

Foreign policy experts voiced skepticism that the gesture alone would lure Kim back to the negotiating table. Leif-Eric Easley of Ewha Womans University said Trump's recent comments about Kim suggest a willingness to reengage, but noted Pyongyang is currently focused on profiting from its military cooperation with Russia over the war in Ukraine while modernizing its own forces. Duyeon Kim of the Center for a New American Security warned that trimming joint drills weakens military readiness over time against the possibility of another North Korean attack.

North Korea has rebuffed talks with Washington and Seoul since Kim's nuclear diplomacy with Trump collapsed in 2019, using the years since to accelerate weapons testing, deepen military ties with Russia and expand cooperation with China. Kim indicated last September he might resume talks only if Washington abandons what he called its "delusional obsession" with denuclearization, a stance analysts say reflects his ambition to leverage an enlarged nuclear arsenal for major sanctions relief. Kim Dong-yub of the University of North Korean Studies predicted Pyongyang would likely take note of Trump's overture without dismissing it outright, but would wait for concrete steps before signaling any return to dialogue.