The United States has cancelled Exercise Ssangyong, a major joint amphibious drill with South Korea that simulates forces attacking from ships. The Trump administration informed Seoul in June that it lacked sufficient Marine forces due to commitments from the Iran war. At the peak of operations against Iran, about 50,000 U.S. troops were deployed to the Middle East, straining the personnel and equipment pools required for exercises like Ssangyong.
South Korea’s Marine Corps public affairs chief, Han Seung-jeon, stated that the two countries are discussing the possibility of resuming the drills in the future, though no firm timeline was provided. Defense expert Dr. Andreas Krieg noted that this cancellation is a clear sign of U.S. military strain from the Iran war, as the drill relies on the same Marine personnel and logistics heavily consumed by U.S. Central Command in the Middle East.
The cancellation follows a wider pattern of strained U.S.-South Korea military cooperation this year, which included earlier cuts to joint exercises after Seoul declined to join a U.S. push on Iran. It also adds to broader reports that U.S. allies are questioning whether Washington maintains the military capacity to support them following the conflict.