The US military has scrapped an amphibious landing exercise with South Korea because of shortages related to deployments to the Middle East, a spokesperson for the South Korean Marine Corps said yesterdayThe Ssangyong exercise planned for next month would not be held as scheduled, the spokesperson said, the first apparent confirmation of a major cut to scheduled US military training in the Asia-Pacific region because of the US war against Iran.The drill takes place roughly once every two years.
US Army vehicles gather to cross a river at a training field in Yeoncheon, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, on Aug. 17.
“The US Marine Corps has officially notified the ROK Marine Corps that the deployment of their forces during this period is constrained due to the situation in the Middle East,” the spokesperson said, using the abbreviation for Republic of Korea, the country’s formal name.US Marine Corps Forces Pacific and US Forces Korea did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The postponement comes after US President Donald Trump recently ordered the scaling back of a separate joint military exercise with South Korea, citing his desire to maintain his relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and Seoul’s purported refusal to help Washington with its conflict against Iran. Those exercises ended about a week early on Friday last week.The US has sent a wide range of military hardware and personnel to support the conflict against Iran. Most recently, the US has sent its lone aircraft carrier in the Asia-Pacific region, the USS George Washington. Despite the deployments, the US had maintained its schedule of training in the Asia-Pacific region up until Trump’s intervention.The Marine Corps spokesperson said the Ssangyong exercise was not scrapped indefinitely. “While there may be some timing-related constraints for this year’s Ssangyong Exercise, the ROK and US Marine Corps are continuing close consultations regarding the future resumption of the exercise,” the person said at a briefing.
