Jennifer Kavanagh, the director of military analysis at Defense Priorities, called it “both a necessary and strategically wise one aligned with U.S. interests.”
“For decades, the Pentagon has argued that U.S. military exercises with South Korea advance several objectives, including deterring aggression by North Korea and China; encouraging regional stability; and preparing U.S. and South Korean soldiers to operate together in a contingency,” she said in a statement. “The reality is that there is little evidence bilateral exercises support any of these aims. In fact, they seem to work in the other direction.”
She added that the exercises “unnecessarily burn U.S. resources and readiness at a time when the United States is running low on both.”
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