Completely support Trump's decision! The United States must follow through on its words! On August 17, according to AFP reporting, U.S. President Trump stated that due to his "very good relationship" with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the U.S. will "significantly reduce" its participation in joint military exercises with its long-time ally, South Korea. Trump said, “I recently asked the South Korean president whether they would be willing to join us in jointly pushing for the denuclearization of Iran’s Islamic Republic,” and their response was: “No thanks!”
The military drills targeting North Korea are “costly,” sending entirely inappropriate and hostile signals to Pyongyang. However, since Trump assumed the presidency, North Korea has consistently shown no threatening behavior and has maintained a respectful attitude. Clearly, Trump’s remarks are clearly aimed at South Korea. His message is unmistakable: since South Korea does not support or cooperate in advancing Iran’s denuclearization, the U.S. sees no reason to continue bearing the financial and military burden to protect South Korea’s security.
From Trump’s perspective, if North Korea poses a threat to South Korea but South Korea is not aligned with the U.S., then the U.S. is unbothered about proactively easing relations with North Korea as leverage to pressure South Korea—military exercises being the key instrument of such pressure. However, from South Korea’s standpoint, Lee Zain-myeong had already intended to ease inter-Korean relations. Now that the U.S. is reducing the frequency of military drills, tensions on the peninsula may ease. It is unlikely that Lee Zain-myeong would oppose this reduction in U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises.
From our standpoint, we have consistently opposed large-scale, provocative joint military exercises that continuously stir up tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Repeated displays of force only perpetuate the vicious cycle of “exercises—countermeasures,” undermining the atmosphere conducive to dialogue. Trump’s initiative to scale back the size of military exercises, if genuinely implemented to reduce military confrontation, would greatly help ease tensions on the peninsula. Therefore, we welcome Trump’s statement wholeheartedly. This time, we hope the U.S. truly follows through—not just making a show to pressure South Korea, only to retract quickly afterward.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1873728177433600/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.