United States President Donald Trump says North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has responded to his recent outreach, a day after ordering the Pentagon to scale back drills with longstanding ally South Korea.

When asked by reporters at the Oval Office on Monday why Kim has not responded to his request for a conversation, Trump replied, “He has.”

He also said the response was “very positive”, without providing further details.

There was no immediate comment from North Korea.

Trump on Sunday instructed the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” joint military exercises with long-term Asian ally South Korea.

Writing on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the annual drills were “not only costly … but send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile, to a Country that, as long as Donald J. Trump has been President, has been unthreatening and respectful”.

He also linked the decision to Seoul’s refusal to help with the US-Israel war on Iran.

Speaking at the Oval Office on Monday, Trump again criticised South Korea.

“Wait a minute. We have 39,000 soldiers over there, guarding you from Kim Jong Un, your next-door neighbour, and you’re not going to help us on a very easy military operation in Iran. That’s strange,” he said.

South Korean officials said on Monday that the annual drills had begun as planned.

On Tuesday, Seoul’s presidential office said the drills did not reflect “any intention to attack North Korea or escalate tensions on the Korean peninsula”.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung reiterated that their fundamental purpose is “not to treat a specific entity as an adversary, but to safeguard the safe and peaceful daily lives of the people”, his office added.