Conflict & Security
South Korea-US scaled-back drills end, Seoul says
Scaled-back annual war games between South Korea and the United States ended on Friday, Seoul's military said, days earlier than initially planned after US President Donald Trump ordered them curtailed.
A Seoul military official said the joint drills “have ended”. The exercises were originally scheduled to last until August 27.
Trump said this week that the drills, which are designed to prepare for a possible attack by North Korea, were “inappropriate and hostile” towards nuclear-armed Pyongyang.
North Korea then fired around 10 short-range ballistic missiles on Thursday. Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, mocked Seoul's “master-servant” relationship with Washington.
The drills reportedly consisted of two phases. The first, focused on defending against potential North Korean threats, was due to run until Friday. The second, focused on a counteroffensive, has been scrapped.
The Pentagon previously said the reduced drills would cause “no degradation to US training objectives”.
North Korea has long objected to the exercises, describing them as rehearsals for an invasion.
The United States stations about 28,500 troops in South Korea to support the country's defences, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
Trump also said recently that it was important to “get along” with Kim and said Pyongyang now had 57 “very powerful” nuclear weapons. Seoul says there are around 80 to 120.
South Korean Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back said this week that Seoul remained opposed to officially recognising North Korea as a nuclear-weapon state. Asked whether Washington had “given up” on North Korea's denuclearisation, Ahn said he did not believe so.
Kim Yo Jong said this week that her brother had “good memories and feelings” about Trump and that the relationship between the two leaders remained “excellent”. She also dismissed the significance of the reduced drills, calling the move “completely uninteresting”.
Update
The drills ended on Friday, days earlier than initially planned after Donald Trump ordered them curtailed.
The exercises were originally scheduled to last until August 27.
The drills reportedly had a first phase focused on defending against potential North Korean threats and a second phase focused on a counteroffensive.
The second phase was scrapped.
North Korea fired around 10 short-range ballistic missiles on Thursday.
Kim Yo Jong mocked Seoul's relationship with Washington and said the reduction of the war games was “completely uninteresting”.
South Korea's defence minister said Seoul remained opposed to officially recognising North Korea as a nuclear-weapon state.
Source note: AFP news report published on 21 August 2026 at 08:51:38 UTC.
Update
South Korea's military said the scaled-back South Korea-US drills ended.
Source note: AFP news report published on 21 August 2026 at 08:13:06 UTC.
Update
Kim Yo Jong said the US decision to reduce joint drills with South Korea was Seoul's 'comeuppance'.
Kim Yo Jong described the reduction as a 'deserved disaster' caused by South Korean authorities' security outlook.
Source note: AFP news report published on 20 August 2026 at 12:16:45 UTC.
Update
Kim Yo Jong dismissed the importance of the US decision to scale back the joint drills.
Kim Yo Jong said the relationship between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un was "excellent".
Source note: AFP news report published on 19 August 2026 at 13:40:16 UTC.
Update
North Korea said the US scaling back South Korea drills was "not worth commenting on".
Source note: AFP news report published on 19 August 2026 at 13:26:11 UTC.
Update
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun told lawmakers that Seoul had not been informed in advance of Trump's plan to downsize the drills.
Cho said neither South Korean nor US government officials knew in advance what Trump revealed on Truth Social.
Analysts quoted by AFP said the reduction could affect prospects for renewed US-North Korea talks.
Source note: AFP news report published on 19 August 2026 at 04:56:27 UTC.
Update
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the exercise period was adjusted to August 17-21 at the suggestion of the US side.
The second phase of the drills, which had been due to run from August 24-27, is understood to have been scrapped.
A South Korean military official told AFP that Seoul viewed the decision as unusual.
The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed US officials, that Trump is pushing aides to set up a meeting with Kim Jong Un as soon as this autumn.
Source note: AFP news report published on 19 August 2026 at 02:26:40 UTC.
Update
The Pentagon said reductions to South Korea drills preserve “essential readiness.”
Source note: AFP news report published on 19 August 2026 at 01:54:36 UTC.
Update
South Korea's military said the US-South Korea drills will end on Friday, ahead of the Aug. 27 schedule.
Source note: AFP news report published on 19 August 2026 at 00:43:44 UTC.
Update
North Korean state media on Aug. 19 called the joint US-South Korea drills a “most immediate and open threat” to North Korea and regional security.
KCNA did not mention US President Donald Trump's order to curtail the exercises or his stated desire to resume talks with Kim Jong Un.
KCNA framed the commentary around North Korea exercising a right to self-defence against what it called hostile forces.
Source note: AFP news report published on 18 August 2026 at 22:36:51 UTC.
Update
South Korean national security adviser Wi Sung-lac said Seoul had consulted the United States and other partners over freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and possible military contributions.
Wi said South Korea had reviewed practical military contributions while considering defence readiness and domestic legal procedures.
Trump said the United States had 39,000 soldiers in South Korea, while the supplied official troop figure is about 28,500.
Source note: AFP news report published on 18 August 2026 at 10:04:01 UTC.
Update
South Korea's presidential office said the drills did not show any intention to attack North Korea or escalate tensions on the Korean peninsula.
South Korea's unification ministry said it could not verify whether communications between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump had taken place.
Trump again questioned US support for South Korea and NATO allies that had refused to contribute to the Iran war.
The United States stations about 28,500 troops in South Korea, while Trump referred to 39,000 in his remarks.
The USS George Washington was being redeployed from the Pacific region to the Middle East, according to the supplied account.
Source note: AFP news report published on 18 August 2026 at 05:35:08 UTC.
Update
Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said Australia was very concerned about North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes.
The item adds that the remarks came during a Japan-Australia meeting in Canberra.
The item says Trump praised his relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and criticised South Korea over Iran.
Source note: AFP news report published on 18 August 2026 at 04:20:23 UTC.
Update
Richard Marles also referred to North Korea's missile programme.
Marles spoke in Canberra alongside his Japanese counterpart.
The comments followed US President Donald Trump's comments on reducing US-South Korean military drills and his relationship with Kim Jong Un.
Source note: AFP news report published on 18 August 2026 at 03:49:50 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
The source says the drills reportedly consisted of two phases, indicating the phase structure was reported rather than independently established.
The source does not identify the Seoul military official by name.
Source
AFP news report published on .