The South Korean Marine Corps announced yesterday that the United States will not participate in next month’s “SsangYong” (“Twin Dragon”) joint amphibious exercise. The U.S. cited a strain on resources due to the war on Iran. South Korea was notified of this decision in June.

• The exercise, which has been held every other year since 2012, generally includes naval vessels, aircraft and more than 10,000 marines. It’s, in part, meant to show North Korea and China that the U.S. military backs South Korea.
• A spokesman for the South Korean Marine Corps, Han Seung-jeon, said that South Korea and the U.S. are in talks to eventually resume the exercise.

Yesterday’s announcement came eight days after President Trump announced the U.S. was significantly cutting back its participation in the late-August “Ulchi Freedom Shield” military exercises with South Korea.

These decisions obviously bow not to the will of South Korea, a key East Asian ally, but to the will of North Korea, a rogue dictatorial regime armed with nuclear weapons.

• In the social media post announcing the decision, President Trump said he had a “very good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and stated that North Korea has been “unthreatening and respectful.”
• Days later, North Korea test-launched 10 ballistic missiles in a show of force and defiance.

America has also diverted substantial military assets away from East Asia.

• The uss George Washington aircraft carrier previously assigned to Asia has left that theater and arrived in the Middle East last week.
• This leaves South Korea without a U.S. carrier between it and North Korea, and, more importantly, North Korea’s powerful ally, Communist China.

This clear deference to America’s enemies shakes America’s alliances, not only with South Korea but with Japan and other nations who are watching and wondering what the U.S. will do if hostilities break out.

Prophecy speaks plainly of the realignment of power within Asia—with America losing its presence there in favor of a massive Russia-China-led conglomeration, as explained in our booklet Russia and China in Prophecy. Watch for more trends pointing toward that inevitability.