트럼프 ‘한미훈련 축소’ 지시…야권 “이 정부가 칼자루 쥐어줘” 비난

Donald Trump, the US President, ordered a significant reduction in the joint US-South Korean military exercises on May 16, prompting conservative opposition to criticize the government. The National Power Party's representative, Jang Dong-hyuk, stated on Facebook that the joint exercises might even be discontinued altogether, saying that "it's finally going the way of President Jeoen Moon wanted."

Jang pointed out that both the Minister of Unification and the Minister of Defense had leaked military secrets despite intense American protests. Another People Power Party representative, Na Gyeon-won, accused the current administration of worsening the security situation on the front line, turning over the right to use nuclear weapons, and struggling with integrated training at military academies.

He also criticized the regime for abandoning the non-nuclear denuclearization proposal and declaring its own disarmament. Democratic Party of Korea's representative, Ye Seung-min, tweeted that Trump's tweet about the US-Korea alliance highlighted the seriousness of the current crisis. The Democratic Party of Korea stated that Trump's perception of the joint military exercises as "entirely inappropriate and adversarial" to North Korea effectively negates the legitimacy of the alliance's core, the joint military exercises.

The Reformist Party's representative, I Jeon-seok, commented that the US's perception of North Korea as non-threatening is diametrically opposed to what Koreans feel. He argued that the shift in training from strengthening alliances to reducing them with Korea means the balance of power in the alliance is shifting. Trump had instructed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth via the social media platform "Truus Social" that the exercises should be "substantially reduced," claiming they were "too costly and largely burdened on the US."