'What in the ever-loving ...'? Report: Trump admin to make major announcement regarding US-South Korea military exercises

Sarah D | 1:00 PM on March 01, 2019

This is bad, right? Because this seems bad:

#EXCLUSIVE: U.S. to end large-scale military drills with South Korea https://t.co/LgpdjKV2xM @ckubeNBC @dandeluce @NBCNews

— Mosheh M. Gains (@MoshehNBC) March 1, 2019

The major U.S.-South Korea exercises are being curtailed as part of the Trump administration’s effort to ease tensions with North Korea, the officials said. The exercises — known as Key Resolve and Foal Eagle — will be replaced with smaller, mission-specific training, according to the officials.

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The military has carried out the major exercises as much for deterring the North Korean regime as maintaining troop readiness, according to senior defense officials.

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But some experts on North Korea questioned whether the major exercises can be suspended without significantly impacting the troops’ ability to combat threats.

“That would run counter to what the military has been saying for decades,” said Bruce Klingner, a former CIA officer who tracked North Korea and is now a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation. “Militaries need to train.”

“If you continue curtailing your exercises, on what day has it reached catastrophic proportions?” Klingner added. “It’s hard to measure. But you know, over time, there has to be a degradation.”

But it’s totally OK, because they can do this stuff virtually or whatever: