China urges inter-Korean dialogue after Trump orders cut to military drills
China has stressed the need for a political settlement to tensions on the Korean Peninsula after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a significant reduction in annual joint military exercises with South Korea.
Lin Jian, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, said in Beijing on Monday that preserving peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and advancing a political solution are in the interests of all parties. He made the remarks in response to questions about the joint Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise.
The joint drills between South Korea and U.S. forces began as scheduled on Monday. According to reports, the exercises are taking place as tensions with North Korea rise again, while Seoul is also seeking to regain wartime operational control from Washington.
According to Yonhap, Pyongyang has long regarded the exercises as war rehearsals and has condemned them. Under a defence treaty, the United States has more than 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea.
Trump said on Sunday that he had ordered U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegseth to reduce the drills. Writing on Truth Social, he said the exercises were costly and, in his view, sent an “hostile and inappropriate” message to Pyongyang, although he said it was too late to cancel them completely.
The statement came after South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Saturday called for direct talks with North Korea to formally end the Korean War. The war ended in an armistice in 1953, and the two Koreas have still not signed a peace treaty.
