US, Japan, South Korea Drill Despite Trump Overture
US, Japan, South Korea Drill Despite Trump Overture
The News
South Korea, the United States and Japan will go ahead with a trilateral military exercise next month aimed at North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, officials in Seoul said Friday.
The announcement came a day after North Korea vowed to retaliate against what it called a series of US "hostile moves."
It also lands weeks after President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to scale back a major bilateral drill with South Korea — a gesture toward Pyongyang that the North rebuffed.
The Drill
The exercise is Freedom Edge, a US-South Korea-Japan drill launched in 2024 that combines simultaneous air and naval operations to sharpen joint ballistic missile defense, anti-submarine warfare and surveillance.
South Korea's military said in a statement that Freedom Edge will start Sept. 7 and run five days in the waters off the southern island of Jeju, according to an account carried by The Independent.
Reuters, cited by the Jerusalem Post, reported the drills will run Sept. 9-11 in international waters south and east of Jeju. Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff described the exercise as defensive in nature.
Timeline
Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meet twice; the diplomacy collapses in 2019.
The allies launch Freedom Edge as a trilateral exercise.
Trump says he ordered the Pentagon to "substantially reduce" the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, citing his relationship with Kim. He also faulted Seoul's refusal to help in the Iran war and said the drills sent the wrong message to North Korea.
The US and South Korean militaries end Ulchi Freedom Shield six days early. North Korea says shortening the drill does not change its "provocative, aggressive nature," and launches about 10 short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea.
After that: The US cancels a joint Marine Corps drill that had been scheduled for next month, per Reuters.
North Korea's Foreign Ministry accuses Washington of "a series of hostile moves," including a possible sale of air-to-air missiles and related equipment to South Korea, and warns it "will make a serious, immediate and powerful response to the hostile acts in different spheres."
Seoul confirms Freedom Edge goes ahead next month.
Reactions
South Korea's military said the exercise is defensive and meant to respond to North Korean nuclear and missile threats while promoting regional peace and stability.
North Korea has previously called the trilateral drill a "reckless show of strength" that exposes its adversaries' confrontational posture, and has claimed the exercise reflects a US intention to lay siege to China and pressure Russia.
Pyongyang has said it will not resume talks with Washington unless the US drops denuclearization as a precondition.
What's Next
Freedom Edge is set for the first half of September off Jeju, with Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff yet to publicly reconcile the differing start dates reported by news agencies.
North Korea has threatened a response "in different spheres," and it answered the last allied exercise with a short-range missile salvo.
Trump has continued to seek a new summit with Kim. Seoul's announcement further dims prospects for an early restart of US-North Korea diplomacy.
More
Since talks broke down in 2019, Kim has enlarged his nuclear arsenal and aligned with Russia over its war against Ukraine. Experts quoted in the reporting say that with greater leverage, Kim would likely seek major US concessions — international recognition of North Korea as a nuclear state and sweeping sanctions relief — in exchange for only a partial surrender of his arsenal.
Colleges Condemn Students Mocking Kirk Assassination Anniversary
Charleston White Arrested Again on Florida Battery Charge
Sep 13, 2026
Border Patrol Rescues MS NOW Crew in Desert
Sep 13, 2026
Supreme Court Restores Missouri's Old House Map
Sep 13, 2026
Alaska Drops Felony Voter Charges Against Samoans
Sep 13, 2026
Trespasser Breaches Harris' Malibu Estate; No Arrest
Sep 12, 2026
Hegseth Pressed Downed Airmen Into 60 Minutes
Sep 12, 2026
Houthis Seize Mokha, Choking Saudi Oil Exports
Sep 12, 2026
Altman Rules Out OpenAI IPO This Year
Sep 12, 2026
Jury Acquits Lil Durk in Murder-for-Hire Case
Sep 12, 2026
Judge: Trump Broke Law Halving FEMA Staff
Sep 12, 2026
Maher Calls Democrats' Gaza Genocide Claim a Lie
Sep 12, 2026
Blizzard Revives StarCraft, Sends Diablo to Netflix
Sep 12, 2026
Trump's Queens Childhood Home Sells for $1.93M
Sep 12, 2026
Scientists Find New Virus in Tick Invading US
Sep 12, 2026
Britain Bans Settlement Imports; US States Threaten Payback
Sep 12, 2026
Prison Fire Kills 7 as Kurds Protest Killing
Sep 12, 2026
Kosovo Rallies for Ex-President Before Hague Verdict
Sep 12, 2026
Cruz Booed at GameDay Over College Sports Bill
Sep 12, 2026
Blast Hits Bulgarian Arms Plant Supplying Ukraine
Sep 12, 2026
Sep 13, 2026