Trump Cuts South Korea Drills, Leaves Seoul Uneasy
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Trump cut joint military exercises with South Korea, announcing the decision on social media hours before the drills were to begin — a delivery South Korean progressives called "regrettable" even as they accepted the substance.
- South Korean President Lee Jae Myung had floated reducing drills as a tool to draw Pyongyang back to dialogue, and used the moment to renew calls for wartime operational control of the military and progress on South Korea's nuclear submarine programme.
- Conservative opposition in Seoul called the cut a "security disaster" and warned of a return to "Korea passing"; the Chosun Ilbo blamed Lee's government directly for inviting it, while the progressive Hankyoreh accepted the substance but objected to the unilateral delivery.
- Professor Jaechun Kim of Sogang University argued trust is the foundation of any alliance, saying Trump's approach reinforces the impression that US obligations are viewed "through a highly transactional lens" — a pattern that could outlast Trump.
- South Korean public opinion on an independent nuclear deterrent has hovered around or over 70% in recent surveys, and Kim warned the irony is that US policies intended to reduce American burdens may ultimately strengthen those calls among US allies.
- Kim expects Pyongyang to welcome any sign of alliance friction but doubts Pyongyang sees improving ties with Washington as a priority, given stronger backing from both China and Russia compared with Trump's first term.
Why it matters: With South Korean support for an independent nuclear deterrent already at or above 70%, Trump's unilateral cut — delivered without consultation — risks accelerating the very nuclear proliferation Washington wants to prevent; the left-right inversion means Lee cannot openly welcome a policy his base distrusts, while conservatives frame it as a betrayal of the alliance.
Ask SkimNews
