President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to scale back planned joint military exercises with South Korea, citing the high cost and potential hostility towards North Korea. The exercises, which were set to begin this week, involve 18,000 South Korean soldiers and are designed to beef up readiness against North Korean threats.
Background
The move is the latest example of the president appearing to side against an ally in favor of a leader that previous administrations have cast as an adversary. Trump has expressed interest in continuing discussions with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, with whom he has met three times during his presidency.
The joint training is set to start days after North Korea resumed ballistic missile testing activities that are banned by the U.N. Trump’s decision was sharply criticized by Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, a former Navy pilot, who said that hollowing out these joint exercises is shortsighted and a mistake.
North Korea has been pushing hard to enlarge its nuclear and missile arsenals since Kim’s high-stakes diplomacy with Trump collapsed in 2019. Experts say Kim likely believes a bigger weapons arsenal would increase his chances for wresting more concessions from the U.S. in future negotiations.
Original reporting: NBC10 Boston — read the source article.
