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Here's what to make of the U.S. president's bizarre declaration about Kim Jong-un.
Slate • • world
Key Points:
- President Donald Trump ordered a substantial reduction in joint military exercises with South Korea, citing cost concerns, a desire not to antagonize North Korea's Kim Jong-un, and South Korea's refusal to join U.S. efforts to denuclearize Iran.
- Trump redeployed the USS George Washington aircraft carrier from Japan to the Middle East, leaving the Asia Pacific region without a U.S. aircraft carrier for the first time since 1944, signaling a shift in U.S. strategic priorities away from East Asia.
- Critics highlight that Trump's claimed "good relationship" with Kim Jong-un is misleading, as North Korea has expanded its nuclear arsenal and supported Russia in Ukraine, showing no interest in renewed talks with the U.S.
- The cost of joint military exercises with South Korea is relatively low compared to the expenditures on the ongoing war in Iran, and these exercises are seen as key to deterring larger conflicts in East Asia.
- Trump's rationale linking South Korea's refusal to assist in Iran's denuclearization to cutting military exercises is flawed, given South Korea's geographic distance and the redeployment of U.S. defense assets from the region to the Middle East.
