US-S.Korea drills ditched due to Iran war constraints

The United States has cancelled a joint amphibious landing drill scheduled for September with South Korea, with Washington citing constraints on the availability of US forces due to the war in Iran.

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 spokesman told a media briefing on Monday.

The allies remained in close consultations on resuming the drills, the spokesman said.

He did not specify what measures might be taken to prevent future cancellations or to make up for lost training opportunities.

The cancellation follows US President Donald Trump's surprise order to scale back a separate annual joint military exercise that ended on Friday, citing the cost and Seoul's refusal to take part in the Iran war.

Trump also wrote on his Truth Social platform that the Ulchi Freedom Shield drills sent "a signal that was totally inappropriate and hostile, to a Country that, as long as Donald J Trump has been President, has been unthreatening and respectful".

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.