Trump Post on South Korea Drills Forces Japan to Reassess 75-Year US Defense Bet

3 articles · Updated · Financial Times · Aug 20

Tokyo is re-evaluating its security assumptions after Donald Trump called for cutting joint US-South Korea military exercises, raising fresh doubts about the reliability of US protection.
That matters more deeply for Japan because its postwar strategy has relied for 75 years on the US alliance, while its pacifist constitution left little room to build a credible fallback defense plan.
Japan’s latest defense white paper says it aims by fiscal 2027 to take “primary responsibility” for repelling an invasion—with US support—but analysts say that still falls short of a true Plan B.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi faces pressure from both sides: protesters are urging her to preserve pacifism, while threats from China, North Korea and Russia are strengthening arguments for a broader defense overhaul.
Trump’s post has sharpened a wider fear in Tokyo that US unpredictability is no longer a one-off disruption but part of a deeper shift that could force Japan to rethink rearmament, conscription or even nuclear deterrence.