US Politicians Criticize Scaling Back of South Korea-US Drills; Hillary Clinton Asks, 'Are You Kidding Me?'

Criticism is pouring in from the US political circle over US President Donald Trump's order to significantly scale back joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States.

In a post on X on the 17th (local time), Republican Senator Thom Tillis stated, "South Korea, possessing extraordinary military capabilities, has been a steadfast military ally of the US for over 70 years," pointing out that "curtailing combined exercises with South Korea simply frees up thousands of North Korean troops to support Putin's systematic kidnapping, torture, rape, and murder of innocent Ukrainian citizens."

This appears to be a criticism that as North Korean troops are relieved of pressure due to the reduction in South Korea-US drills, their capacity to support Russian President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine could grow.

Senator Tillis is a second-term senator belonging to the ruling Republican Party.

Last year, after opposing a tax cut bill pushed by President Trump and facing threats of defeat, he gave up his bid for a third term.

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who faced off against Trump as the Democratic nominee in the 2016 presidential election, also joined the criticism.

On X, former Secretary Clinton criticized, "The president is shifting US policy to be more accommodating to North Korea and Russia than to Canada or Oman," adding, "Are you kidding me?"

Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, also issued a statement condemning it as "another reckless decision made by President Trump."

Senator Reed argued, "By scaling back joint drills to pander to a dictator, or punishing South Korea for not joining a war of his own making, President Trump is sending a signal to both our allies and adversaries that America's commitments are negotiable."

He warned, "Kim Jong-un got a propaganda victory, and South Korea, one of our strongest allies, was punished for no reason other than Trump's ego," adding, "China and Russia are watching how easily President Trump abandons America's allies and will remember this when testing us."

Democratic Senator Tim Kaine (Virginia) also pointed out, "North Korea test-fired ballistic missiles, yet Trump decides the cause of the problem lies with South Korea, our ally that made the wise judgment not to participate in the catastrophic war in Iran," stating, "It doesn't get any better than this for Kim Jong-un."

Democratic members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee also posted on X, criticizing, "Trump's war in Iran is failing disastrously," and noting, "He is scaling back joint exercises with South Korea, a 70-year ally, because they refuse to assist in an illegal war."

They added, "The alliance with South Korea makes the US safer, yet Trump is weakening it."

The issuance of critical statements by the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee from the Democratic Party is interpreted as proof of how seriously the issue is being perceived.

Foreign affairs and security issues in the US Senate and House of Representatives are primarily handled by the Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees.

The previous day, President Trump stated on the social media platform Truth Social that he had instructed the secretary of defense to significantly reduce South Korea-US joint exercises, while expressing grievances suggesting that South Korea had not cooperated with the war in Iran.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.