Trump Cuts South Korea Drills; Seoul Uneasy
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- Donald Trump cut joint US-South Korea military exercises, announcing the decision on social media hours before the drills were scheduled to begin, in what the source describes as his 'blunt, discourteous fashion.'
- South Korean President Lee Jae Myung had repeatedly floated drill reductions as a tool to revive North Korea dialogue, and used the moment to renew calls for wartime operational control of the military and progress on a nuclear submarine programme.
- South Korea's conservative People Power Party called the cut a 'security disaster' and warned of a return to 'Korea passing,' with the Chosun Ilbo blaming Lee's government directly, while progressive papers Hankyoreh and Kyunghyang Shinmun objected mainly to the delivery, not the substance.
- Public support for an independent nuclear deterrent among South Koreans and their neighbours has hovered around or above 70% in recent surveys, and Prof Jaechun Kim of Sogang University said US policies aimed at reducing American burdens may ultimately strengthen calls for independent nuclear deterrents among allies.
- Kim argued the move reinforces the impression that US alliance obligations are viewed 'through a highly transactional lens,' a perception building since Trump's first term that could shape how South Koreans judge US reliability long after he leaves office.
- Pyongyang is unlikely to view improving relations with Washington as a priority, Kim said, given the stronger backing it now enjoys from China and Russia compared with Trump's first term.
Why it matters: The drill cut gives Lee what he publicly wanted — denuclearisation-first dialogue with Pyongyang and a path to defense autonomy — yet 70%+ public support for an independent nuclear deterrent and a 'Korea passing' backlash from Seoul conservatives show the same move is simultaneously fueling the very independence-from-Washington drift it was ostensibly designed to encourage.
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