South Korea said military exercises with the US will be cut short on President Donald Trump’s request, deepening unease among American allies in Asia. Trump plans to revive talks over North Korea’s nuclear program and wants to meet with the pariah state’s dictator this year, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The cutting back of the South Korea drills has shaken confidence in US commitment to Asia: Foreign Policy characterized a Pentagon official’s recent visit to Southeast Asia as an “empty charm offensive,” some Taiwanese fear being sacrificed as part of a superpower bargain, and North Korean soldiers’ participation in Russia’s war in Ukraine “makes high-quality allied military exercises more important, not less,” an Australian think tank argued.