China's Foreign Ministry expressed a general, principled welcome to the situation, calling for a political solution to Korean Peninsula issues, after U.S. President Donald Trump directed a "significant reduction" to the Korea-U.S. joint military exercise while stressing his "good relationship" with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump. / People's Daily

At a regular press briefing on the 17th, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian, when asked whether China supports renewed U.S.-North Korea dialogue in light of Trump's remarks the previous day (local time), responded, "We have noted the relevant reports," adding that "safeguarding peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and promoting a political resolution of Peninsula issues serves the shared interests of all relevant parties."

This can be seen as China reiterating its consistent principled stance on Korean Peninsula issues — "safeguarding peace and stability" and "promoting a political resolution." It's reasonable to characterize this as a fairly positive expression of position, in its own way.

Earlier, Trump had written on Truth Social on the 16th that, given it's too late to cancel the exercise entirely, he had directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to significantly scale back the joint drill with South Korea.

He also said that given his very good relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, he doesn't like the fact that the U.S. has long agreed to participate in joint military exercises with South Korea, calling it entirely inappropriate and a hostile signal to send. This can be read as Trump openly expressing discomfort toward South Korea — remarks that could fairly be described as characteristically unpredictable. According to Beijing diplomatic sources, this may be a case where South Korea need not take the comment too seriously.

                                                                                                           Hong Soon-do