Trump may have scaled back Korean exercises to show displeasure

US President Donald Trump signaled displeasure with South Korea by scaling back a joint military exercise, a South Korean analyst told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon on Sunday to scale back annual joint military exercises with South Korea, saying the ally declined to help with the war against Iran and citing his good relationship with North Korea's Kim Jong Un.

His announcement baffled many in South Korea, which has been closely allied with the US for decades and where national security is a top priority due to threats from nuclear-armed North Korea.

Trump explained his decision by citing South Korea's refusal to join his war against Iran and pointing to what he said was his good relationship with North Korea's reclusive dictator, a transactional and personal approach to foreign policy that has defined the Republican's presidency.

"There is no American interest that I can see in this," said Dan Fried, an assistant secretary of state for European affairs in the George W. Bush administration. "On all levels it makes no sense. It undermines the South Koreans, undermines the Japanese, frightens the Taiwanese, unnerves NATO and emboldens the Chinese, not to mention the North Koreans."

Cha Du Hyeogn, an analyst at Seoul based Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said South Korea has always been deliberately staying a step behind other key US allies when it came to showing support for the US agendas.

"If it's difficult to make substantive concessions or contributions, then at the very least, on a symbolic level, South Korea needs to show that it supports and shares in the US agenda."

Earlier in the morning, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung held the first cabinet meeting since the beginning of the Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise on Monday.

Lee emphasized that the robust South Korea-US alliance and the strengthening of self defense capability are mutually necessary and sufficient conditions for one another.

"A solid alliance strengthens the foundation of our security, while building up our own strength in turn increases our value and necessity as an ally," said Lee.

The 11 days of exercises involving 18,000 South Korean soldiers were designed to beef up readiness against North Korean threats.

The exercises are one of the two main combined drills conducted by the South Korean and US militaries annually, along with their springtime training.