North Korea shrugs off Trump’s scaled-back drills with South Korea, saying it changes nothing
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President Donald Trump said Monday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un treats him with “great respect,” a day after ordering the Pentagon to scale back annual joint military exercises with South Korea, which he criticized for not joining the U.S. war in Iran
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President Donald Trump during an impromptu gaggle after a tour of the South Lawn construction spoke to reporters on the last-minute negotiations with the Canadian government and potentially meeting with North Korea’s leader
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The drill, led by Seoul’s Songpa District Office, involved over 200 people. The ongoing exercise is linked to Ulchi Freedom Shield and focuses mainly on civil defense aimed at enhancing the government’s ability to manage emergency situations
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U.S. President Donald Trump, right, meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Sentosa Island in Singapore, on June 12, 2018. /Evan Vucci, File)
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South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, second from right, speaks during a cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (Yonhap
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South Korea army soldiers take part in an anti-terror drill as a part of the Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercise between the U.S. and South Korea in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026. /Ahn Young-joon)
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South Korea army soldiers take part in an anti-terror drill as a part of the Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercise between the U.S. and South Korea in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026. /Ahn Young-joon)
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Staff members of a hotel take part in an anti-terror drill as a part of the Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercise between the U.S. and South Korea in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026. /Ahn Young-joon)
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President Donald Trump said Monday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un treats him with “great respect,” a day after ordering the Pentagon to scale back annual joint military exercises with South Korea, which he criticized for not joining the U.S. war in Iran
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President Donald Trump during an impromptu gaggle after a tour of the South Lawn construction spoke to reporters on the last-minute negotiations with the Canadian government and potentially meeting with North Korea’s leader
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The drill, led by Seoul’s Songpa District Office, involved over 200 people. The ongoing exercise is linked to Ulchi Freedom Shield and focuses mainly on civil defense aimed at enhancing the government’s ability to manage emergency situations
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U.S. President Donald Trump, right, meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Sentosa Island in Singapore, on June 12, 2018. /Evan Vucci, File)
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U.S. President Donald Trump, right, meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Sentosa Island in Singapore, on June 12, 2018. /Evan Vucci, File)
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South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, second from right, speaks during a cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (Yonhap
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South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, second from right, speaks during a cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (Yonhap
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South Korea army soldiers take part in an anti-terror drill as a part of the Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercise between the U.S. and South Korea in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026. /Ahn Young-joon)
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South Korea army soldiers take part in an anti-terror drill as a part of the Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercise between the U.S. and South Korea in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026. /Ahn Young-joon)
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South Korea army soldiers take part in an anti-terror drill as a part of the Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercise between the U.S. and South Korea in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026. /Ahn Young-joon)
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South Korea army soldiers take part in an anti-terror drill as a part of the Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercise between the U.S. and South Korea in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026. /Ahn Young-joon)
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Staff members of a hotel take part in an anti-terror drill as a part of the Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercise between the U.S. and South Korea in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026. /Ahn Young-joon)
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Staff members of a hotel take part in an anti-terror drill as a part of the Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercise between the U.S. and South Korea in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026. /Ahn Young-joon)
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HYUNG-JIN KIM
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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Wednesday that a U.S. decision to scale back military exercises with South Korea does not change what it sees as the provocative nature of the drills, dampening hopes for an early resumption of diplomacy between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump
The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made the comments Wednesday night in her country’s first reaction to Trump’s moves to drastically cut back the annual U.S.-South Korean military drills
“We think it’s not worth making comments on that and we have no interest in it at all,” Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by state media. “The provocative, aggressive nature of the drills won’t change even though their duration and size were reduced.”
She also cited a series of other military drills carried out by the U.S. and South Korea earlier this year and South Korea’s push to introduce nuclear-powered submarines
Kim Yo Jong denied that there are any communications between Trump and Kim. Earlier this week, pressed by reporters on whether he had a conversation with Kim Jong Un, Trump said that Kim had responded to his request for a conversation
Kim Yo Jong’s statement did not contain North Korea’s typically harsh rhetoric. She briefly said relations between her brother and Trump are “still excellent,” mentioning her brother’s past comments that he still has “good memories” of Trump. This suggests North Korea may be trying to manage relations with Trump, while seeking bigger concessions to restart talks
When asked by reporters Wednesday if he will meet with Kim Jong Un this year, Trump said that “Yeah, I will be.” He wouldn’t answer a question about whether he is exchanging letters with Kim but said he gets along with him
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<img src="https://todaytrendnews7.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/90-816.jpg" alt='In this photo provided by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un, front right, visits a new facility to produce nuclear bomb fuels at an undisclosed place in North Korea Wednesday, June 3, 2026. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: “KCNA” which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)’>
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US and South Korea confirm drastic slashing of drills
Kim Yo Jong’s statement came hours after the South Korean and U.S. militaries confirmed they were scaling back their 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises. Trump earlier ordered the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” the exercises, citing what he said was a good relationship with Kim and South Korea’s refusal to support him over Iran
South Korean officials said Trump’s announcement came without prior notice, baffling many people in the Asian country and raising concerns about joint defense readiness
South Korea’s military said the allies agreed to adjust the duration and scale of the exercises at the request of the U.S. It said the ongoing drills would end Friday, not Aug. 27 as initially planned. It added that the allies also agreed to downsize some joint field training exercises
The Pentagon said that it was “continuing training that enhances tactical capability” but certain events have been canceled or converted to simulations. “These adjustments preserve essential readiness and training objectives. There will be no degradation to U.S. training objectives,” a Pentagon statement said
Ulchi Freedom Shield is largely a computer-simulated command post exercise meant to hone the allies’ ability to deal with potential North Korean aggression. The two countries usually hold a set of field training exercises during the command post exercise period
The drills are a central pillar of the U.S.-South Korea alliance, which dates to the 1950-53 Korean War. But they also are a long-runningrcises as a rehearsal for an invasion and responded with provocative missile tests. Days before this month’s drills began, North Korea launched two ballistic missiles into the sea
This month’s drills were initially supposed to be held in two phases in simulation of North Korean attacks — the first part until this Friday on defensive operations and the second part until Aug. 27 on counteroffensive operations. North Korea is extremely sensitive to counteroffensive drills
Prospects for Trump-Kim summit unclear
Earlier Wednesday, North Korea’s state news agency, KCNA, published a commentary slamming the U.S.-South Korean military drills as “frantic” and “extremely dangerous” and vowing to completely frustrate its rivals’ hostilities
Many experts said Kim, now emboldened by his advancing nuclear program and expanding military cooperation with Russia, won’t likely embrace Trump’s overture and return to talks anytime soon unless he’s promised bigger concessions. Kim suggested last year that he could only return to talks if the U.S. drops its demand for North Korean denuclearization as a precondition for diplomacy
Trump claimed Wednesday that North Korea has 57 nuclear weapons. Some experts put the size of the North’s arsenal at more than 100 warheads
South Korea’s intelligence service estimated last year that North Korea sent about 15,000 troops to support Russia’s war against Ukraine. Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said North Korea was preparing to send more troops to Russia. But in her Wednesday statement, Kim Yo Jong flatly denied that, calling it “an ungrounded farce.”
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung hailed Trump’s decision, saying in his X message Wednesday that he hopes it would lead to reopening dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang and promoting peace on the Korean Peninsula. Lee is a liberal who wants better ties with North Korea
South Korea’s main opposition conservative party earlier accused Lee’s government of prioritizing the resumption of Kim-Trump diplomacy over security concerns caused by Trump’s move
Trump and Kim met three times from 2018-2019 but their high-stakes diplomacy eventually fell apart over wrangling over a North Korean demand for extensive sanctions relief in return for limited denuclearization steps
Trump’s move may focus on South Korea over Iran
In his social media post, Trump said the drills are not only costly but “send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile” to North Korea, which he said “has been unthreatening and respectful” during his time in the White House. Trump said he asked Lee if South Korea would join the U.S. in the “denuclearization” of Iran, “and they said, ‘No thanks!’”
At separate parliamentary hearings Wednesday, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back said neither South Korean nor U.S. officials were informed of Trump’s move before his social media post. Cho said the alliance remains strong, while Ahn said South Korean and U.S. defense officials were maintaining close consultations
Some experts say Trump’s cut of the drills was more likely designed to apply pressure on South Korea to give him substantial support over the Iran war than to reach out to North Korea
“Trump’s message is that if you don’t cooperate with us on Iran, we’re not cooperating with you” on the drills either, said Yang Uk, an analyst at Seoul’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies. “It’s like he’s asking South Korea to show it’s helping him over Iran” by taking steps like sending warships or reinforcing missile defenses in some areas
South Korean officials said South Korea and the U.S. are closely discussing practical and military contributions that South Korea can make to help restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz
It wasn’t the first time that the U.S. and South Korea have scaled back or canceled their drills
In 2018, Trump abruptly announced the cancellation of a major war game with South Korea, after his first summit with Kim. The U.S. and South Korea have since canceled or reduced other joint drills to support diplomacy with North Korea and cope with the COVID-19 pandemic
Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price in Washington contributed to this report
HYUNG-JIN KIM
