Deterrence Is a Perishable Skill — and Washington Just Agreed to Let It Atrophy Against a Stronger Kim
President Trump has ordered cuts to joint US-South Korea military exercises, calling them costly and citing his 'very good relationship' with Kim Jong Un. Here's the part that matters: the last time he did this, in 2018, North Korea used the pause to build a significantly more powerful military. This time, the US is trading away readiness against an adversary that has already banked the gains from round one.
Bottom Line
THE BOTTOM LINE: This isn't 2018 replayed — it's 2018 replayed with a stronger North Korea and a combined US-South Korean force being asked to train less. Diplomacy with Pyongyang may or may not pay off, but the specific trade being made is concrete: perishable military readiness exchanged for the hope of goodwill from a leader who pocketed the last pause and kept building. Whether that gamble looks smart depends entirely on whether talks produce something the first round never did.