Drills cut by Trump are central to the US-South Korea alliance

SEOUL, South Korea -- For decades, the United States and South Korea have regularly staged military drills to prepare their soldiers to work together smoothly in the event of a crisis or conflict with North Korea. But this year's Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, one of the two main drills conducted by the allies annually, could be disrupted after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered his Pentagon chief to “substantially” scale it back just before its start Monday.He cited what he said was a good relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korea’s refusal to join the U.S. war against Iran. It was unclear what parts of the 11-day exercise were being cut and to what extent, but many experts say Trump's move threatens to hurt combined U.S.-South Korean readiness and eventually weaken their decades-long alliance.The Ulchi Freedom Shield, or UFS, is a computer-simulated tabletop exercise meant to hone the allies' ability to deal with potential regional security threats like North Korean aggression. The two countries usually hold field training exercises during the tabletop exercise period.South Korea's military had earlier said this year's exercise would be similar in scale t...