Asian allies stress cooperation after Trump slashes drills

Japan yesterday underlined that security cooperation with the US and South Korea was “critical” for the region’s stability, after US President Donald Trump alarmed allies by scaling back military drills with Seoul while hailing his ties with Pyongyang. Trump on Sunday abruptly announced that he had ordered the Pentagon to scale back “inappropriate and hostile” military drills with South Korea. The following day he insisted he was making the situation “much safer” through his ties with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, whom he met three times in his first term, but has yet to encounter since his return to the White House. US military vehicles are covered with tarpaulin sheets at a US Eighth Army camp in Dongducheon, South Korea, yesterday. Photo: EPA While praising the leader of nuclear-arme