00:00Why is Trump turning on military drills with South Korea?
00:03The US president instructed the Pentagon to substantially reduce joint military exercises
00:07with long-term agent ally South Korea hours before drills were scheduled to begin.
00:12South Korea has around 30,000 US troops and contains the US's largest military base
00:16abroad.
00:17Trump has explained his actions as responding to South Korea's lack of help in Iran.
00:21Speaking to reporters at the White House on Monday, Trump expressed his disappointment.
00:24When I called him, I said, would you like to give us a little hand?
00:27We don't need help with Iran, but if you'd like, give us a hand with Iran.
00:32He said, no, thanks.
00:34And I said, wait a minute.
00:35We have 39,000 soldiers over there guarding you from Kim Jong-un, your next door neighbor,
00:42and you're not going to help us on a very easy military operation in Iran?
00:48That's strange.
00:49No, no, we'd rather not get involved.
00:51I say, well, why are we involved in helping you?
00:55So while US forces in South Korea continue to deter North Korean aggression, many analysts
01:00argue they serve US strategic interests, providing a strong presence in the Indo-Pacific to balance
01:05China's growing regional influence.
01:07Another possible reason is to offer an olive branch to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to
01:11advance talks on ending Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.
01:14One expert says Trump's focus on North Korea once again appeared to be an attempt to shift
01:18headlines away from his struggles with the Iran war.
01:21Trump has revealed to reporters that Kim responded to him, but did not elaborate.
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