By Ingrid "Shortwave" Frost
The Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, the annual test of the US-South Korea alliance's muscle, is getting a haircut. Seoul confirmed this week that the drill's run has been cut from 11 days to five, at Washington's request, the BBC reported.
The move follows President Trump's decision to scale back joint exercises, which he has tied to a "very good" relationship with North Korea's Kim Jong Un and a stated interest in reviving direct talks. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has long pushed for a lighter military posture toward the North alongside repeated peace overtures — overtures Pyongyang has so far rejected, largely over Seoul's insistence on denuclearization, according to the Guardian.
On paper, Trump has handed Lee something he wanted. In practice, the mood in Seoul is uneasy, the Guardian reports, with officials in "some quarters" alarmed rather than relieved. A smaller drill footprint raises the old question of whether Washington's commitment to the peninsula is loosening even as North Korea's nuclear program continues.
Analysts cited by Al Jazeera are skeptical the gesture will do what Washington hopes: pry Kim away from his deepening reliance on China. Pyongyang's economic and military ties to Beijing have only grown, and a shorter US-South Korea drill schedule is unlikely by itself to change that math.
What's confirmed: the drill is shorter, at the White House's request, and South Korea says so on the record. What's contested is what it buys anyone. Trump has offered no firm date for talks with Kim; Kim has offered no public response at all.
FILED FROM SOMEWHERE WITH BAD COFFEE -
— Compiled from reporting by the BBC, Al Jazeera and the Guardian.
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