US allies voiced worry over Washington’s strategy in Asia after President Donald Trump said he would scale back participation in key military drills. Trump’s announcement that he would reduce the size of the joint exercises with South Korea — in part because of Seoul’s lack of support for his war in Iran — “has deepened concerns about US reliability among Indo-Pacific allies,” the Financial Times reported.
Japan, which has long had difficult relations with South Korea, said cooperation between Washington and Seoul was “critical” for stability in Asia. Australia, meanwhile, said it was “very concerned” by North Korea’s nuclear program; Trump has suggested that his scaling back of the drills was linked to a desire to revive talks with Pyongyang.