USFK chief drops in at Defense Ministry in wake of Trump's post about joint exercises

U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Xavier Brunson visited South Korea’s Defense Ministry on Tuesday for discussions after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a substantial reduction in the scale of joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises.

Brunson arrived at the Defense Ministry headquarters in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Tuesday afternoon and left after staying for about 20 minutes. He reportedly met Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back during the visit.

Brunson had been scheduled to attend a ceremony Tuesday morning at the Joint Security Area (JSA) Security Battalion in Paju, Gyeonggi, marking the 50th anniversary of the Panmunjom ax murder incident, but skipped the event and instead visited the ministry.

The ax incident occurred on Aug. 18, 1976, when North Korean soldiers killed two U.S. Army officers with axes at the JSA in Panmunjom.

When reporters at the ministry asked why he had come, Gen. Brunson referred to President Trump’s Sunday post and said he was there to discuss the matter.

President Donald Trump said on Truth Social on Sunday that he had instructed Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to “substantially” reduce the scale of joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States.

"Based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong Un, of North Korea, I am not happy with the fact that the United States has, long ago, agreed to participate in Joint Military Exercises with South Korea," the U.S. president wrote.

“These exercises are not only costly, with much of these costs paid for by the United States of America (as usual!).”

President Donald Trump also said the joint exercises send a “totally inappropriate and hostile” signal to a country that has not threatened the United States and has shown respect toward Washington since he took office.

“Based on the fact that it is too late to cancel, I have instructed Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to substantially reduce the Joint Military Exercises,” President Donald Trump said.

The U.S. president’s remarks came ahead of the Ulchi Freedom Shield, a joint Korea-U.S. military exercise running from Monday through Aug. 27. Brunson’s visit to the Defense Ministry on Tuesday appears to have been aimed at discussing ways to scale back the UFS exercise.

BY JEONG HYE-JEONG [[email protected]]