While Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to Seoul to talk with the foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan had been planned for some time, the meeting has taken on heightened significance after Mr Trump said he wanted to halt the annual expensive “war games” and would like to remove all 28,500 US troops stationed in the South, though not immediately.

Before flying on to Beijing on Thursday to brief Chinese officials on the details of the Singapore summit, the Yonhap news agency said Mr Pompeo will visit South Korean president Moon Jae In, who had his own historic meeting with Mr Kim in April and who has been praised for pressing for peace and dialogue with the North.

In one of the most startling elements of the summit, Mr Trump told reporters he wanted to end the joint military exercises with South Korea.

In an interview with ABC, he added: “You know, we’re spending a fortune, every couple of months we’re doing war games with South Korea, and I said, ‘What’s this costing’,” he said. “We’re flying planes in from Guam, we’re bombing empty mountains for practice. I said ‘I want to stop’ that and I will stop that, and I think it’s very provocative.”

The comments appeared to catch both the US military and South Korea by surprise. While the Pentagon claimed defence secretary Jim Mattis had been briefed in advance, it appeared he had not informed troops in South Korea.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s Presidential Blue House said it needed to “to find out the precise meaning or intentions” of Mr Trump’s statement, adding that it was willing to “explore various measures to help the talks move forward more smoothly”.

One South Korean official told Reuters he initially thought Mr Trump had misspoken. “I was shocked when he called the exercises ‘provocative,’ a very unlikely word to be used by a US president,” said the official.

On Wednesday, Japan's defence chief said the US military's presence in South Korea and joint military exercises were “vital” for East Asian security. “We would like to seek an understanding of this between Japan, the US and South Korea,” Japan's Minister of Defence Itsunori Onodera told reporters.

Onodera said Japan would continue joint military exercises with the United States and would stick to plans to bolster its defences against a possible ballistic missile strike from North Korea.

US forces in South Korea said they had not been informed of any changes to their operations, which includes Ulchi Freedom Guardian, one of the largest military exercises in the world. The war games spread over 11 days and involve thousands of US and South Korean troops, an event North Korea has long described as being a deliberate provocation.

Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Show all 20 1 /20 Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump and Mr Kim leave following their historic meeting AFP/Getty Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump and Mr Kim sign a document committing to peace between their nations, amongst other things EPA Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump holds up a document that both he and Mr Kim have signed AFP/Getty Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un The two leaders reach out to shake hands for the first time AP Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump and Mr Kim shake hands as they meet for the first time Reuters Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump and Mr Kim walk off stage, following their historic meeting Reuters Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump and Mr Kim take a stroll after their meeting on June 12 Reuters Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump and Mr Kim interrupt their stroll to talk to the media AP Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Kim and Mr Trump look out over a balcony at the Capella hotel, where they held their meeting on June 12 Reuters Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump takes questions at the press conference following his meeting with with Mr Kim AP Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump appreciates the crowd in the press conference following his meeting with Mr Kim Getty Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump travels to the Istana ahead of the summit with Kim Jong Un on June 12 Reuters Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Kim Jong Un travels to the Istana ahead of the summit with President Trump on June 12 Reuters Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Kim poses for a photo with Singapore's Finance Minister Vivian Balkrishnan and Education Minister Ong Ye Kung ahead of the summit with Mr Trump Twitter/Reuters Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump shakes hands with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, meeting on Monday June 11 in the Istana, Singapore's presidential palace AP Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un At a working lunch on Monday, Singapore's Prime Minister surprised Mr Trump with a birthday cake, in early celebration of his 72nd birthday later in the week EPA Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo answers questions about the summit at a press briefing in Singapore on Monday, June 11 Getty Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un US President Donald Trump arrives at the Paya Lebar Air Base in Singapore on June 10, two days prior to his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un Reuters Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump and Mr Kim met on Tuesday June 12 in the Capella hotel on the island resort of Sentosa, just off the south coast of Singapore AFP/Getty Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump boards Air Force One following the summit AFP/Getty

Lt Col Jennifer Lovett, a United States military spokeswoman in South Korea, told the New York Times the US command there “has received no updated guidance on execution or cessation of training exercises to include this fall’s schedule Ulchi Freedom Guardian”. She added: “We will continue with our current military posture until we receive updated guidance from the Department of Defence.”

Straight after the summit’s conclusion, Mr Pompeo telephoned Japanese foreign minister Taro Kono and his South Korean counterpart Kang Kyung Wha.

Singapore Summit 2018: Donald Trump says North Korea will 'dismantle missile test site'

“Just spoke with FM Kono & FM Kang to provide a brief readout of today’s meeting btw @POTUS & Chairman Kim at #singaporesummit,” Mr Pompeo tweeted.

The summit, the first meeting between a North Korean leader and a sitting US president, was intended to bring peace on a peninsula where Seoul and Pyongyang technically remain at war. The Korean War ended only with an armistice.

South Korea’s Mr Moon and the North’s Mr Kim have agreed to seek an official end to the war and to replace the Korean armistice with a peace agreeement.

Mr Trump’s statement was portrayed by some critics as an unreciprocated concession.