Trump scales back US-South Korea drills, cites 'very good' ties with Kim Jong Un

It's all because Kim says nice things to him and according to Donald they get along.

Anyone that says nice things or flatters Trump will get pretty much whatever they want.
lol, According to Trump? Enough said.

North Korea leader’s sister denies talks with ‘hostile’ US​

Kim Yo Jong said she was unaware of any talks between her brother and US President Donald Trump

19 Aug 2026

The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has denied any ongoing communication between US President Donald Trump and her brother, maintaining that the US continues to engage in a “hostile” policy towards her country.

“Regarding the recent news from Washington about communication between the leaders of North Korea and the United States, I am completely unaware of it, and it is likely the only matter concerning our top leadership’s foreign policy that I am unaware of,” Kim Yo Jong said in a statement published by the state-run Korean Central News Agency on Wednesday.

Later on Wednesday, Trump said he gets along well with Kim and was planning to meet the North Korean leader.

Trump on Monday told reporters he had been in touch with Kim, and the leader had been “very positive” in responding to his proposal for talks.

Trump, who has often touted what he says is a close relationship with the unpredictable North Korean leader, made the claim after being pressed by reporters on whether his recent overtures towards Kim Jong Un, and very public resentment of South Korea, had resulted in any progress towards talks.

“Kim Jong Un has always treated me with great respect,” Trump said. “I understand him. He understands me.”

Trump has expressed frustration with South Korea’s refusal to help with the war against Iran.

On Sunday, Trump ordered the Pentagon to significantly scale back joint military exercises with South Korea, which hosts around 28,500 US troops, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in an armistice but no definite conclusion to the conflict.

Trump said on Monday that US soldiers were in South Korea “guarding you from Kim Jong Un, your next-door neighbour, and you’re not going to help us on a very easy military operation in Iran. That’s strange”.

The US president has also questioned the usefulness of other long-time military alliances, including NATO, which he has also pressed to aid with the Iran war and to pay the US for the protection NATO member countries receive from Washington. On Monday, Trump said he had convinced South Korea to pay $3bn a year during his first term as president, and was planning to increase that amount.

“So we were getting paid. We would have been getting paid a lot more,” he said. “But we can’t go around and protect all of these countries, especially when they’re not there to help us.”

Trump began his first term as president by threatening North Korea and reminding Kim that his country possessed a far more powerful nuclear capability.

“Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his,” Trump wrote in 2018.

Six months later, Trump and Kim met face to face in Singapore, a historic meeting between the two countries’ leaders described as an agreement on the “complete denuclearisation” of the Korean Peninsula. They met again in 2019, including in a dramatic encounter at the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), where Trump became the first US president to cross into North Korea.

Trump’s courting of Kim has not yielded many results, analysts have pointed out. North Korea has expanded its missile and nuclear capabilities and has stepped up its alliance with Russia, even sending tens of thousands of troops to fight alongside Moscow in the war in Ukraine.

 
It's all because Kim says nice things to him and according to Donald they get along.

Anyone that says nice things or flatters Trump will get pretty much whatever they want.

This is of course temporary so people celebrating shouldn't get too excited.
Plus he is punishing SK for not joining in on the war.

But yeah trump changes positions like he changes clothes so nothing can be taken seriously from him anymore
 
Trump respects North Korea and snubs Japan and South Korea. Even he admires countries which have a spine.
 
Plus he is punishing SK for not joining in on the war.

But yeah trump changes positions like he changes clothes so nothing can be taken seriously from him anymore
Trump treats Japan and S.Korea like dirt. No countries respect those who don't respect themselves.

 
Mr Trump is an absolute godsend to those who wanted America's hard and soft power to evaporate.
 
US-South Korea military drills cut in half after Trump’s broadside
President Donald Trump's call to drastically shorten the exercise out of deference to North Korea's leader reportedly took Seoul by surprise.


By Lee Ferran on August 19, 2026 10:25 am

260819_DVIDS_us_korea_exercise_9850536-scaled-e1787148444231-1024x577.jpg
U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Malcom Lindley, left, a company commander with 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, currently forward-deployed with 4th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, as part of the Unit Deployment Program; U.S. Air Force Maj. Jason Kim, center, a Language Enabled Airman Program scholar; and a Republic of Korea Marine Corps captain, right, discuss a plan during Korean Marine Exchange Program 26.2 in Gimpo, South Korea, July 23, 2026. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Daniel Granados)


WASHINGTON — South Korea’s defense ministry acknowledged today that an ongoing exercise with the US will be sharply curtailed, after US President Donald Trump said the drills were unnecessarily “hostile” toward the autocratic regime in North Korea.

The ongoing exercise, dubbed Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS), was expected to run from Aug. 17 through Aug. 27 but will now end on Friday, Aug. 21, South Korean officials said today, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency and international reports.

On Sunday, Trump wrote on his social media site Truth Social that the exercises “are not only costly […] but send a signal that is completely inappropriate and hostile,” adding that he had a “very good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

“While somewhat unrelated (?), I recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, ‘No thanks!’” Trump wrote. Trump further said he ordered Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to “substantially reduce” the scope of the exercise.

At the White House this week, Trump also criticized Seoul for not paying enough money for “protection” provided by the US.

The broadside took officials in South Korea, a decades-long ally of the US, by surprise. Foreign Minister Cho Hyun told South Korean lawmakers today that “neither our government nor US officials knew what President Trump wrote on his Truth Social [platform],” according to Yonhap. “We were not notified in advance.”

The Pentagon told The Associated Press that the “adjustments preserve essential readiness and training objectives. There will be no degradation to U.S. training objectives.”

Shortening the exercise does not seem to have appeased North Korea, which today reportedly continued to condemn it, threatening to “completely neutralize the enemies [sic] military threat.”

Trump’s embrace of North Korea — a continuation from his first administration — drew criticism from political opponents, especially as North Korea has been sending troops to aid Russia in its long-stalled invasion of Ukraine. His Truth Social post also happened to come a day before the 50th anniversary of the deaths of two American servicemembers at the hands of North Korean troops along the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea.

 
Plus he is punishing SK for not joining in on the war.

But yeah trump changes positions like he changes clothes so nothing can be taken seriously from him anymore
Of course nothing he says can be taken seriously.

As for punishing SK for not entering the war. What the hell was SK supposed to do?...
.
Notice he says well. We really don't need them. But yet he wanted them to join just a few days ago.
 

South Korea, U.S. to end joint military exercises early on August 21​

19 August 2026 19:11 (UTC+04:00)
South Korea, U.S. to end joint military exercises early on August 21


A joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States will end earlier than scheduled on August 21.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the exercise had originally been planned to run from August 17 to 27. However, following a U.S. proposal, the two sides decided to adjust the timing and scale of the drills.

The exercise, which began on August 17, will now conclude on August 21.

The development comes after U.S. President Donald Trump said on May 16 that he had a very good relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trump also expressed his opposition to the United States participating in joint military exercises with South Korea.

South Korean Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back said the allies were moving to cancel the drills' second phase, media said, adding that it had been expected to involve counterattack ⁠operations after an initial defensive phase.

At the suggestion of the United States, the countries agreed on partial adjustments to the duration and scope of the drills, the JCS said. Some combined field manoeuvre training would also be scaled back, although details were still being discussed.

A U.S. Department of Defense official said the department had substantially reduced the exercise and associated live-training events, with some cancelled or switched to simulations.

 
Trump respects North Korea and snubs Japan and South Korea. Even he admires countries which have a spine.
He respects North Korea because he would love the United States to become North Korea..

He would love to be an absolute ruler with no descent

That's why he admires authoritarians like Kim, Victor Orban & Putin
 

South Korea president calls for military independence in wake of Trump call to cut joint drills​

Lee Jae Myung reiterates desire for full command back in Seoul’s hands after Donald Trump cuts joint exercises, citing warm ties with Kim Jong-un

Tue 18 Aug 2026 06.50 BST

South Korea’s president ⁠has renewed his push to regain independent control of the military from the US in the event of war and urged faster progress in acquiring nuclear-powered submarines after Donald Trump’s order to cut joint drills.

On Sunday night, Trump instructed the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” this week’s joint military exercises with South Korea, saying the nuclear-armed North “has been unthreatening and respectful” and that the US president had a “very good relationship with Kim Jong-un”.

Lee Jae Myung said on Tuesday that Seoul should proceed without disruption with ‌the planned transfer, during his term, of ‌wartime operational control, or Opcon, of South Korean forces from the US – a goal he and the government have long held.

“A strong alliance makes the foundation of security stronger, and strengthening our own capabilities increases our value and necessity as an ally,” Lee said in a cabinet meeting, describing the US-South Korea alliance and independent defence as ‌mutually reinforcing.

The issue dates back to the Korean war, which ended in an armistice rather than a formal peace treaty in 1953, meaning the two Koreas remain technically at war. US troops have been stationed in South Korea ever since, and the country now hosts Camp Humphreys, the largest American military base outside the US. The two militaries train and operate together closely, including through large-scale annual exercises such as this week’s.

Wartime Opcon, the authority to direct South Korean forces if fighting resumes, has rested with the US since the war began, exercised through the head of the allies’ Combined Forces Command, a position that has always been held by an American four-star general.

Seoul regained peacetime control of its own military in 1994, but the wartime authority has become a potent symbol of national sovereignty, and reclaiming it has been one of South Korea’s foremost security goals for more than two decades, repeatedly delayed under successive governments.

This week’s now-curtailed drills were meant to help certify South Korea’s readiness to finally take it over, a process Lee has pushed to accelerate since taking office.

Lee also called for faster progress on South Korea’s nuclear-powered submarine programme and on developing officers capable of integrated operations for future conflicts.

The renewed push follows Trump’s call to make cuts to the planned 10 days of drills that started on Monday under the name Ulchi Freedom Shield, one of two main annual exercises held by South Korea and the US.

They were expected to involve about 18,000 South Korean troops, alongside US forces and personnel from 11 of the 18 member states of the United Nations Command (UNC), the multinational body that oversees the 1953 armistice that halted hostilities of the Korean war.

During questioning in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump claimed North Korean leader Kim had responded to his order to the Pentagon but did not provide details. When asked what stage the conversations with Kim were at, Trump said “it’s very positive” but provided no further detail.

Trump doubled down on his praise for Kim, saying their ties had reduced tensions. “You see, I’m actually making it much safer. Kim Jong-un has always treated me with great respect,” he said. “I understand him. He understands me.”

Trump has previously suspended major US-South Korean military exercises in pursuit of diplomacy with Kim. After his first summit with the North Korean leader in 2018, that year’s Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise was cancelled, while other drills were suspended or scaled back. The exercises were redesigned and resumed in modified form with changed names.

The US president acted despite warnings from US and South Korean military officials that Kim’s regime is learning new battlefield tactics from sending North Korean troops to the Ukraine war. Last week, South Korean and US military officials said Ulchi Freedom Shield drills would incorporate aspects such as the North Koreans’ experience with drones on the battlefield.

North Korea has deepened military ties with Russia since they signed a comprehensive strategic partnership pact in June 2024. Pyongyang is providing troops, artillery ammunition and ballistic missiles to support Moscow’s war against Ukraine.

“They’ve taken those lessons they learned there and brought them back to North Korea, that changes the DPRK capability,” said Col Ryan Donald, the public affairs director for the US-led commands in South Korea.

“Our training accounts for that threat, that is why the exercise looks different [from previous exercises], and over the last five years it’s continually evolved.”

On Tuesday, Seoul’s presidential office said the drills did not reflect “any intention to attack North Korea or escalate tensions on the Korean peninsula”.

Lee’s office reiterated that their fundamental purpose was “not to treat a specific entity as an adversary, but to safeguard the safe and peaceful daily lives of the people”.

 
And some morons here in PDF repeatedly say that US will risk everything to defend Taiwan :D:D
They forgot who ditched ROC (Taiwan ) in the first place.

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And some morons here in PDF repeatedly say that US will risk everything to defend Taiwan :D:D
They forgot who ditched ROC (Taiwan ) in the first place.
All technological advances in Taiwan will be destroyed upon any aggression
 

‘No Interest’: North Korea Dismisses Reduced U.S. Drills With South Korea

Kim Yo-jong, a powerful adviser and sister of Kim Jong-un, also said she was “unaware” of any communication with Washington, contradicting President Trump’s claim her brother had responded to his outreach.

In the foreground, two people in tactical gear aim long guns. A person with glasses talks on a phone while standing on a red carpet on the other side of the building.

South Korean soldiers took part in a drill at a hotel in Seoul on Wednesday on the sidelines of a major joint military exercise with the United States named Ulchi Freedom Shield.

Aug. 19, 2026, 2:02 p.m. ET

Kim Yo-jong, a powerful adviser and sister of North Korea’s leader, on Wednesday dismissed President Trump’s abrupt decision to scale back major military exercises with South Korea, saying the attempted overture “holds no interest for us.”

Ms. Kim, a spokeswoman for her brother Kim Jong-un’s government, said in a statement carried by state media that the reduced exercises were still “provocative and aggressive.”

She also said she was “unaware” of any communication between the governments in Pyongyang and Washington, contradicting President Trump’s claim on Tuesday that Mr. Kim had responded to his outreach.

Ms. Kim’s repudiation came amid Mr. Trump’s attempts to spur new talks with the North’s leader. On Wednesday, Mr. Trump said he expected to meet with Mr. Kim later this year.

Ms. Kim’s comments came one day after the Pentagon said it would end planned drills with South Korea one week earlier than scheduled. On Sunday, Mr. Trump ordered the Defense Department to reduce the 11-day training exercise, called Ulchi Freedom Shield.

U.S. allies in the region view the annual drills, a fixture of the decades-old security alliance between the United States and South Korea, as crucial to military preparedness and deterrence amid China’s expanding territorial ambitions and North Korea’s military posturing.

 

South Korea says it wasn't informed in advance of US decision to scale back drills​

Cho Hyun's remarks came after US and South Korea agreed to shorten ongoing Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercise

19 August 2026•

Content media


South Korea on Wednesday said it had not been informed in advance of US President Donald Trump's directive to scale back combined military exercises.

"Neither our government nor US officials knew what President Trump wrote on his Truth Social," Foreign Minister Cho Hyun told lawmakers, according to Seoul-based Yonhap News.

"We were not notified in advance," he told the National Assembly Committee on Foreign Affairs and Unification.

His remarks came after the US and South Korea agreed to shorten their ongoing Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) military exercise by nearly a week and scale back some combined field training.

The annual exercise, which began Monday, will now run through Friday rather than the originally scheduled Aug. 27 end date.

On Sunday, Trump instructed the Pentagon to "substantially reduce" planned joint military exercises with South Korea, citing their cost and his relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

On the reduction of Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, Cho said Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back was believed to be in "close consultations" with US counterparts."Since our defense minister was involved in the discussions, I do not think it amounts to a unilateral notification," he said.

Asked whether the shortened drill could affect the planned transfer of wartime operational control, Cho said the US "should not be able to use the reduction as a reason to further delay the transfer as the drills are being scaled back at the US' request."

 
South Korea is another major US lackey for so many years. Another one biting the dust.
 

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