US cancels joint marine drills with South Korea over Iran war-related force constraints

He did not specify what measures might be taken to prevent future cancellations or to make up for lost training opportunities.

The biennial Ssangyong drills involve marine forces from South Korea and the US and are designed to strengthen combined operations, typically involving warships, aircraft and ground forces rehearsing amphibious landings.

The decision has intensified doubts over Washington’s commitment to maintaining a credible deterrent on the Korean Peninsula and ​its capacity to manage concurrent global conflicts, as U.S. weapons stockpiles have fallen to troubling levels.

The cancellation follows US President Donald Trump's order last week to scale down the separate annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises, cutting the joint drills from 11 days to five.