Trump Scales Back 14 South Korea Drills as He Splits on North Korea and Iran
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Aug 21
Trump Scales Back 14 South Korea Drills as He Splits on North Korea and Iran
3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Aug 21
Summary
Trump ordered U.S. participation in joint military exercises with South Korea to be scaled back, his first concrete outreach to Kim Jong Un this term after citing North Korea's test pause as "unthreatening."
About 60 North Korean nuclear weapons and material for roughly 30 more help explain the shift: analysts say Pyongyang is beyond a realistic CVID disarmament model, unlike Iran's more targetable program.
China and Russia's backing has blunted sanctions on North Korea, while global support for pressure on Iran remains stronger, reinforcing Trump's pragmatic line on Pyongyang and absolutist stance on Tehran.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung favors reduced peninsula tensions, while Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu has pushed Washington toward a harder line on Iran, underscoring how allies are shaping the split approach.