The suspension of US-South Korean drills this summer hurt the readiness of the two militaries, the nominee to head US and UN forces in South Korea said Tuesday.
The suspension of US-South Korean drills this summer hurt the readiness of the two militaries, the nominee to head US and UN forces in South Korea said Tuesday.
General Robert Abrams said the pause in drills, which President Donald Trump agreed to at his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June, had been a “prudent risk” to help facilitate a detente on the peninsula.
But there “was certainly a degradation in the readiness of the force, for the combined forces,” Abrams told the Senate Armed Services Committee at his confirmation hearing.
In June, after Trump met Kim in Singapore, the United States said it would suspend “select” exercises with South Korea, including the large-scale Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercises slated for August.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis last month said the US would end its suspension of drills, though he later walked his comments back saying “no decisions” had been made.
