Iran war live: Tehran-US MoU set to expire; Hamas’s al-Khayya meets Kushner

Scott Uehlinger, a US Navy veteran and former senior CIA officer, says Trump’s decision to scale back military exercises with South Korea comes amid concern over Seoul’s ties with Beijing.“I’m a little surprised at the timing. However, this has sort of been developing for almost a year now,” Uehlinger told Al Jazeera.“Despite the fact that South Korea has not been cooperating with the United States on Iran, there have been other policy divergences, and that’s been caused by the election in 2025” of President Lee Jae Myung, he said.“The US administration is unhappy with [Lee’s] accommodation moves toward China. South Korea has been getting too friendly with China in the US assessment. And that’s why this move is being made now,” he said.Seoul’s policy differences with the US on Iran are “just a symbol of a larger problem”, Uehlinger said, adding that South Korea’s “too friendly” ties with China have worried regional allies like Japan, the Philippines, Australia and Taiwan.Uehlinger also downplayed the military significance of the drawdown, noting that the US runs other regional exercises involving South Korea throughout the year.“It’s not about awarding or rewarding North Korea… it’s more about mildly scolding South Korea,” he said, adding that North Korea has, in fact, “been better behaved” recently, despite continuing to test missiles and supply Russia with troops and weapons for its war on Ukraine.