Washington DC, Aug. 17 -- US President Donald Trump has ordered Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth to "substantially reduce" upcoming joint military exercises with South Korea, criticizing the drills as costly and sending a "hostile" signal to North Korea.

The move came after Trump revealed, in a social media post on Sunday (US local time) that South Korea declined a recent request from Washington DC to assist in efforts regarding the denuclearization of Iran. His remarks came ahead of the summertime Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise between Seoul and Washington was set to begin Monday in South Korea, Yonhap news agency reported

In response, South Korea's presidential office in Seoul stated on Monday, as cited by the official media, that ...