In the long arc of alliance politics and peninsular tension, President Trump has once again reached for a personal diplomatic gesture — scaling back joint US-South Korea military exercises — framing it as both a cost-saving measure and a signal of goodwill toward North Korea's Kim Jong Un. The announcement, made less than a day before the drills were set to begin, carries echoes of his 2018 suspension during denuclearization talks, raising enduring questions about whether personal relationships between leaders can substitute for the institutional architecture that keeps fragile peace intact. S