Richard Marles says he is ‘concerned’ by North Korea’s weapons program after Trump’s military scale-back

Australia remains “very concerned” by North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, Defence Minister Richard Marles has said after US President Donald Trump announced he would be scaling back military drills with South Korea.

Mr Trump announced the American move overnight, citing his “very good relationship” with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.

“These exercises are not only costly, with much of these costs paid for by the United States of America (as usual!), but send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile,” he posted on social media.

He also lambasted South Korea for refusing to join his “denuclearisation” efforts in Iran.

Mr Marles said on Tuesday that “what the United States does is a matter for it, but, let me be clear about a couple of things”.

“Australia is very concerned about North Korea’s nuclear program, as well as its missile program,” he told a press conference with Japanese Defence Minister Koizumi Shinjiro.

In a nod to his Japanese colleague, Mr Marles noted that he visited Tokyo just after a North Korean missile test last year.

“We’re seeing that activity happen frequently and we remain very concerned about it,” he said.

Mr Marles went on to call South Korea “a critically important country”, both for Australia bilaterally but in terms of broader three-way defence co-operation with Japan, adding that the countries “have a shared strategic alignment”.

“In the challenging world that we face, and there are many challenges, but North Korea is the author of quite a few of those challenges,” he said.