South Korea alarmed by US military shiftBy Karishma Vaswani / Bloomberg OpinionSouth Korea is getting a rude awakening about what happens when US priorities shift: Even long-standing alliances can start to look like relationships of convenience. The US and South Korea agreed to install it in 2016 to help Seoul combat North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile threat. US President Donald Trump has also asked countries like Japan, South Korea and China, along with NATO and other allies, to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz to help commercial vessels sail through it safely. This is worrying for Lee, who said that even if the US military moves air defense assets out of South Korea, it would not seriously affect Seoul’s ability to defend itself against its nuclear-armed neighbor. Previously, she was the BBC’s lead Asia presenter and worked for the BBC across Asia and South Asia for two decades.

Source: Taipei Times March 20, 2026 18:02 UTC