Donald Trump Scales Back Joint Military Drills With South Korea to Ease Tensions With North Korea

Annual military manoeuvres between South Korea and the United States are currently underway. However, just hours before the exercises were scheduled to begin, the US president announced an order to the Pentagon to substantially scale back the drills.

Donald Trump stated that these exercises send an inappropriate and hostile signal to North Korea and its leader, highlighting his 'good relationship' with the nation's head. The joint drills have been a tradition held for decades, raising questions about whether Donald Trump’s last-minute decision indicates a pursuit of talks with Kim Jong Un and if dialogue could potentially end one of the world’s longest-running conflicts.

Presenter: Anna Burns-Francis

Guests: In Bum Chun – Retired South Korean Lieutenant General and military and security analyst; Jenny Town – Senior Fellow and Director of 38 North programme at the Stimson Center; Rodger Baker — Geopolitical analyst at RANE, a global centre for geopolitical intelligence and analysis