US cancels joint marine drills with South Korea over Iran war-related force constraints
The allies remain in close consultation on resuming the drills
The United States cancelled a joint amphibious landing drill scheduled for next month with South Korea, Seoul's Marine Corps said on Monday, after Washington cited constraints due to the war in Iran.
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The US Marine Corps formally notified its South Korean counterpart in June that force availability would be constrained for the division-level exercise, known as Ssangyong, a South Korean Marine Corps spokesperson told a press briefing.
The allies remain in close consultation on resuming the drills, the spokesperson said.
He did not specify what measures might be taken to prevent future cancellations or to make up for lost training opportunities.
US Forces Korea did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Read more: Trump 'looks to meet Kim Jong-Un' after scaling down military exercises with South Korea
The cancellation follows US President Donald Trump's surprise order to scale back a separate annual joint military exercise that ended last Friday, citing the cost and Seoul's refusal to take part in the Iran war.
Hours before exercises were scheduled to begin, Trump said on his Truth Social site he was "not happy" that the US had agreed to participate and highlighted his "very good relationship" with Kim Jong Un, the leader of nuclear-armed and heavily sanctioned North Korea.
"These exercises are not only costly... but send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile, to a Country that, as long as Donald J. Trump has been President, has been unthreatening and respectful," Trump wrote.
Trump has long sought to end or curtail military exercises with South Korea while clashing with Seoul over sharing the costs of stationing 28,500 US troops in South Korea and their role in securing the broader region.
Despite the reduction of the exercises, Pyongyang fired 10 short-range ballistic missiles last week and issued a statement denouncing the exercises.
North Korea has long condemned such joint exercises as rehearsals for invasion.