Trump scales back US military drills with South Korea

Donald Trump has ordered a substantial reduction in joint US-South Korea military exercises, citing his "very good relationship" with Kim Jong-un and calling the drills a "hostile" signal to Pyongyang. The move blindsided military officials from both countries, who have warned that North Korean troops fighting alongside Russia in Ukraine are rapidly acquiring new battlefield experience. The exercises being curtailed fall under the Ulchi Freedom Shield programme, one of two major annual deterrence drills on the peninsula.