August 27, 2026
(FILES) North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump cross south of the Military Demarcation Line that divides North and South Korea, after Trump briefly stepped over to the northern side, in the Joint Security Area (JSA) of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized zone (DMZ) on June 30, 2019. South Korea’s defence ministry said August 17, 2026 that its joint military exercise with the United States has started after President Donald Trump’s announcement it would be scaled back. Trump said he was “not happy” about US participation in the joint military exercises and is scaling back the drills aimed at deterring rival North Korea. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP)
North Korea condemned on Thursday US plans to supply Seoul with tactical missiles and fund human rights monitoring projects, vowing a “powerful response” to what Pyongyang described as Washington’s hostility towards it.
The US Department of State said on Friday it had approved the possible sale of AIM-9X Sidewinder Block II missiles and related equipment to South Korea at an estimated total cost of $125 million.
Pyongyang’s foreign ministry spokesperson, in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, said that “we cannot overlook the adverse effect of the US sale of its weapons to the ROK on the regional security environment”, referring to South Korea.
