Updated on: August 20, 2026 / 6:15 AM EDT
/ CBS/AFP
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Seoul — North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles, Seoul's military said Thursday, hours after President Trump said he would meet again with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un later this year. The latest launches by the nuclear-armed North came after Mr. Trump ordered a reduction in the ongoing joint South Korea-U.S. Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercises, which are now set to end Friday. Pyongyang has long condemned U.S.-South Korean exercises as rehearsals for an invasion, often staging missile test launches during and around the drills.Mr. Trump said he made the decision to scale back the war games "based on my very good relationship with" Kim. He said the longstanding annual military exercises sent a "totally inappropriate and hostile signal" to the North.South Korea's lack of assistance in the war with Iran was also a factor, he said.
South Korean soldiers take part in an anti-terror drill at a hotel in Seoul on Aug. 19, 2026, on the sidelines of a major South Korea-U.S. joint military exercise named Ulchi Freedom Shield.
