WASHINGTON -- A senior South Korean government official said he was "not surprised" by US President Donald Trump's decision to suspend regular military exercises between the allies.

Trump announced the suspension last week after meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore, saying it would be "inappropriate" to continue the "provocative" drills while negotiations to dismantle the regime's nuclear weapons program are under way.

South Korean officials initially reacted to the news by insisting there was "no change" to the exercises. But on Monday, both sides announced they would halt planning for the Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise slated for August.

South Korea`s Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam (Yonhap)
"Both Seoul and Washington are on the same page regarding the important issues like the joint military exercises," First Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam said in an interview with PBS Monday.

"Having said that, the US was also very clear that, as far as the talks with North Korea go in good faith, we can afford not to have the kind of the military exercises we used to have in the past."

Lim, who is in the US for meetings with American policymakers on the North Korea issue, refused to answer whether the South Korean government was informed of Trump's decision in advance.

Pressed on whether he was surprised, he said, "Well, I wasn't surprised."

The US has more than 28,000 troops stationed in South Korea to deter North Korean aggression since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a ceasefire, not a peace treaty.

The joint drills are purely defensive in nature, according to the allies. North Korea has long condemned them as invasion rehearsals.

Some see the suspension as conducive to dialogue toward North Korea's denuclearization, but critics have slammed it as undermining the allied defense posture. (Yonhap)