trust of the military,” said Chun In-bum, a retired lieutenant general in the South Korean army and former commander of the country’s special forces, who blamed politicians for the mess. “I resent the fact they draw in the military to do their job, and it was a bad decision to try to use the military to solve a political problem,” Chun said. The leadership crisis threatens to undermine allied efforts to deter nuclear-armed North Korea, analysts said. “North Korea will probably take a wait-and-see approach toward these events, but it cannot be ruled out that Pyongyang will attempt to exploit divisions in Seoul,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.