Trump cuts Seoul drills, claims Kim talks 'very positive'
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Trump said Kim Jong Un has responded to his recent overtures, calling the conversations "very positive," though he offered no details on stage, venue, or substance despite repeated press questioning in the Oval Office.
- Trump ordered the Pentagon to scale back joint military drills with South Korea, announcing the move on Truth Social Sunday night and labeling the exercises "inappropriate and hostile."
- Trump directly tied the drill reduction to South Korea's refusal to help with the US-Israeli war on Iran: "We have 39,000 soldiers over there, guarding you from Kim Jong Un…and you're not going to help us on a very easy military operation…That's strange."
- South Korean officials said the 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises are continuing as planned, with Seoul's presidential office telling AFP it remains in "close coordination" with Washington despite the president's cutback order.
- North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile over the Sea of Japan recently and warned Friday it could respond to the exercises with "a new level of deterrent," though it has not publicly reacted to Trump's overture.
- The USS George Washington, the only US aircraft carrier in the Pacific, is being redeployed to the Middle East to relieve the long-deployed USS Lincoln, which has faced mental health and supply concerns.
- Senator Jack Reed, the top Senate Democrat on military affairs, called the drill move "another inane, haphazard decision" and warned that China and Russia are "watching how easily this president abandons America's allies."
Why it matters: Trump is conditioning the US military presence on the Korean Peninsula — 28,500 troops plus the drills that simulate combat against North Korean troops hardened by Russia's war — on Seoul's willingness to participate in the Iran war. With the Pacific's sole carrier heading to the Middle East the same week, the Indo-Pacific deterrent posture is thinning precisely as Pyongyang signals escalation and South Korea's citizens reportedly fear abandonment.
Ask SkimNews
