Scrapped drill with S. Korea would have cost $14 million – Pentagon

WASHINGTON/SEOUL (AFP/AP) – When President Donald Trump announced the US would halt joint military drills with South Korea, he backed his controversial move by citing the ''tremendous'' costs of such exercises.

On Monday, the Pentagon put a dollar amount -- about $14 million – on the costs of Freedom Guardian, a large-scale joint drill that was to kick off in August but which was shelved after Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in a historic summit Singapore last month.

''We will be stopping the war games, which will save us a tremendous amount of money, unless and until we see the future negotiation is not going along like it should,'' Trump said after meeting Kim in a bid to solve the crisis over the North's nuclear weapons.

Trump later added on Twitter that the decision would ''save a fortune.''

The approximately $14 million is not an insignificant sum, but represents only a tiny portion of the Pentagon's $700-billion budget.

Suspended drills South Korea has suspended its summertime civil defense drills aimed at preparing against a North Korean attack to keep alive a positive atmosphere for nuclear diplomacy with the North.

Seoul's decision on Tuesday to "temporarily suspend" the nationwide civilian drills had been anticipated since the United States and South Korea halted their annual military exercises following a summit last month between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Streets in South Korean cities froze at the sound of air-raid sirens every year during the Ulchi drills in August with cars stopping on roads, pedestri- ans moving into buildings and subway stations, and government workers evacuating from their offices.

Kim Boo Kyum, minister of the interior and safety, said the suspension of the civilian drills was a follow-up to the suspension of the military exercises amid recent changes in "South-North relations and other security situations." He said the government and military will work to design a new civil defense program to be launched next year that will be aimed at preparing people for natural disasters and terrorist attacks in addition to military attacks.