The US and South Korean militaries were set to end their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises on Friday, six days earlier than planned, in what was presented as a conciliatory gesture towards North Korea. But Pyongyang made clear that the move was not enough to persuade it to return to talks with Washington.<\/p>\n
The drills had already been cut back after US President Donald Trump abruptly ordered the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” them just before they began on Monday. Trump cited what he described as a good relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korea\u2019s refusal to support him over the war in Iran.<\/p>\n
Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of Kim Jong Un, dismissed Trump\u2019s move on Wednesday, saying that “the provocative, aggressive nature of the drills” would not change simply because of a reduction in their size and duration. A day later, North Korea fired about 10 short-range ballistic missiles towards the sea, apparently following through on its earlier threat to respond to the exercises, which it sees as a rehearsal for invasion.<\/p>\n
The US Pacific Command said the launches did not pose an immediate threat to US territory or its allies. It added that the US remained committed to the defence of the homeland and its allies in the region.<\/p>\n
Kim Yo Jong\u2019s statement dampened hopes of an early resumption of talks between Trump and Kim Jong Un, whose earlier nuclear diplomacy collapsed in 2019. Kim has since used the diplomatic stalemate to build leverage by modernising North Korea\u2019s nuclear and missile programmes and aligning with Russia over its war against Ukraine. Last year, he suggested he would not return to talks unless the US dropped its demand for North Korean denuclearisation as a precondition for diplomacy.<\/p>\n
At the same time, Kim Yo Jong used relatively measured language, avoided the harsh rhetoric often used by North Korea and referred to what she called an “excellent” relationship between her brother and Trump. Her remarks suggested that North Korea was not fully shutting the door on future talks and could instead be seeking bigger concessions from the US, including international recognition as a nuclear state and broad sanctions relief.<\/p>\n
With its supply of ammunition and troops to Russia, North Korea is likely receiving economic and military assistance in return. Its expanding ties with Russia also give it leverage to seek greater support from China, its biggest trading partner. “After this strategic play has run its course, Kim may seek further economic and reputational benefits from Washington,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. “But that will probably be after the US midterm elections when Trump is expected to be in a weaker domestic political position and in search of headline-grabbing foreign policies.”<\/p>\n
Kim Dong-yub, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said Kim Yo Jong\u2019s statement showed North Korea\u2019s position that a personal relationship between her brother and Trump “can\u2019t be a factor that moves current North Korean-US relations”. He said she likely wanted to head off speculation that Trump\u2019s move could restore diplomacy, so that North Korea would not take the full blame if that did not happen. Kim Yo Jong also denied Trump\u2019s claim that Kim Jong Un had responded to his request for a conversation. When asked by reporters on Wednesday if he would be meeting Kim Jong Un this year, Trump said, “Yeah, I will be.”<\/p>\n
Ulchi Freedom Shield is one of the main annual military exercises held by the US and South Korea to improve their ability to respond to possible North Korean aggression. Its reduction has raised concerns about joint US-South Korean readiness, even as the shorter schedule has failed to bring Pyongyang back to talks.<\/p>\n
With PTI Inputs<\/p>\n
– Ends<\/p>\n
Published By: <\/p>\n
India Today Web Desk <\/p>\n
Published On: <\/p>\n
Aug 21, 2026 11:18 IST<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The US and South Korean militaries were set to end their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises on Friday,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":127449,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[65324,74,2371,34,7426,129,26492,57101,31749,59992],"class_list":["post-127448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pyongyang","tag-ballistic-missile-launches","tag-donald-trump","tag-kim-yo-jong","tag-north-korea","tag-north-korea-russia-ties","tag-pyongyang","tag-sanctions-relief","tag-ulchi-freedom-shield","tag-us-north-korea-talks","tag-us-south-korea-drills"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}