U.S. President Donald Trump and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shake hands as they attend a bilateral meeting during the G7 summit in Biarritz, France, Aug. 25. Reuters-Yonhap



Abe boosts US-Japan alliance amid Seoul-Tokyo disputes



By Jung Da-min



U.S. President Donald Trump's "America first" strategy is changing the security landscape in Northeast Asia, political experts said, Wednesday.



In efforts to keep promoting his engagement policy toward North Korea as a "success," Trump was downplaying the significance of the North's repeated missile launches by saying the provocations were not in violation of his promises with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.



Trump's engagement policy toward Pyongyang, however, is putting the Washington-Seoul alliance into a possible downgrade position, with Trump downplaying the importance of South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises.



Speaking to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Aug. 25 in their meeting on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France, Trump said he thinks the Combined Command Post Training staged by South Korean and the U.S. militaries from Aug. 11 to 20 was "a total waste of money."



In the meantime, the U.S.-Japan joint drills are being conducted, including the Orient Shield exercise from Aug. 26 to Sept. 23 and a maritime communication exercise from Aug. 13 to 23 where the U.S. aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan and Japan's guided-missile destroyer Myoko participated.



Political experts said the remarks by the U.S. president showed the Washington-Seoul security cooperation is low on his priorities list. They also said South Korean President Moon Jae-in's engagement-centric policy toward North Korea was also adding to the fading of joint military drills between the two countries.



"South Korea and the U.S. used to conduct various types of military exercises in case of contingency situations on the Korean Peninsula but they have been put on hold since the U.S.-North Korea summit in Singapore last year," said Kim Hyun-wook, a professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy.



"But North Korea did not stop weapons tests even after the end of the Combined Command Post Training ― conducted for the transfer of war-time operational control (OPCON) from Washington to Seoul ― which means North Korea has changed its strategy toward the U.S. and South Korea."



The professor said while Pyongyang's continuing weapons tests made the United States feel the need to find alternatives by strengthening joint military drills with Japan, Trump does not want to embrace the risks of staging joint drills with South Korea which could trigger conflict with Kim Jong-un.



He added this is also in the interest of Abe, as the Japanese leader wants to strengthen military ties with the United States.



"Abe wants to make the U.S.-Japan alliance come before the Washington-Seoul alliance, making the latter secondary," the professor said. "As Abe's policy is turning out to be a success, he also does not feel the need to bring relations with South Korea back on track."



On a related note, reports said the U.S. State Department remained rather negative about the South Korean government's military drill in the easternmost islets of Dokdo conducted on Sunday and Monday by dubbing it "not productive toward resolving ongoing issues."



Bong Young-shik, a research fellow at Yonsei Institute for North Korean Studies, said although it remains to be seen whether the Washington-Seoul alliance falling while the U.S.-Japan alliance is rising would be a short-term phenomenon or deepen in the future, it seems the U.S. finds conducting joint drills with Japan worthy of investment as they are not as risky as conducting the joint drills with South Korea which could sometimes be "provocative" to North Korea and its allies China and Russia.



"It (conducting joint drills with Japan) makes sense from the United States' point of view, as it is not about breaking Trump's promise with Kim Jong-un," Bong said. "There's no loss for the U.S. and Japan also wants it."



