World news | The Guardian
· collected 2026-08-20 · by Associated Press
North Korea has launched approximately 10 short-range ballistic missiles into the sea, according to South Korea's military, in what appears to be a response to Donald Trump's decision to scale back US-South Korea joint drills. The launches occurred on Thursday at around 5pm local time. North Korean leader Kim Yo-jong dismissed Trump's overture as "not worthy of comment", suggesting that Pyongyang may be waiting for bigger concessions before resuming talks. The missile launches are banned under UN security council resolutions, prompting South Korea to urge North Korea to halt its ballistic missile launches.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-21,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that he would be scaling back US military exercises with South Korea, citing his "very good" relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and claiming that the exercises were expensive. The annual drills, known as Ulchi Freedom Shield, were originally scheduled to run from August 13-27, but have been reduced in scope and scale at the direction of Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The decision has caused alarm among South Koreans, who rely heavily on the US for their security, as well as other US allies in the region. North Korea has been threatening a "new level" of nuclear deterrence in response to the planned drills, which Pyongyang state media called "a rehearsal for an invasion war."
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, who had previously floated the idea of reducing joint military exercises with the US as a tool for drawing North Korea back to the table, has renewed his calls for wartime operational control of the military and progress on South Korea's nuclear submarine programme.
The decision to cut short the drills marks a significant shift in Trump's approach to North Korea, which he had previously criticized for its missile tests and threats. Trump added that US involvement in the exercises would send a "signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile" to North Korea, which he said has been "unthreatening and respectful" to his presidency.
The move has also sparked concerns among analysts and US senators about Trump's willingness to prioritize North Korean denuclearization over South Korea's security. Some have criticized Trump's approach as naive, citing the recent spate of North Korean missile tests and threats.
Written for “US-South Korea Military Tensions” on 2026-08-31,
grounded in this article and the 21 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted
verbatim and was checked against the article text before being
stored, so you can find it in the original.
Leaning score +0.85 for article 1585 (high confidence, 1 verified quote) · logged 2026-08-21
North Korea has launched about 10 short-range ballistic missiles towards the sea, South Korea’s military said, a day after Pyongyang shrugged off Donald Trump’s order to scale back US military drills with South Korea in an apparent attempt to resume diplomacy.
asserted
Pyongyang → launch → diplomacy
The joint chiefs of staff said the missiles were launched from the region of Pyongyang at around 5pm (08.00 GMT) on Thursday towards North Korea’s eastern waters.
asserted
missiles → say → waters
The military said South Korea had bolstered its surveillance and was closely coordinating information on the launches with the US and Japan.
asserted
Korea → say → US
South Korea’s presidential national security council held an emergency meeting, after which it issued a statement urging North Korea to halt ballistic missile launches, which are banned under UN security council resolutions.
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which → hold → resolutions
The Japanese prime minister’s office said earlier that it had detected a suspected missile launch.
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it → say → launch
On Wednesday, the South Korean and US militaries said they were scaling back their 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises.
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they → say → exercises
Donald Trump had ordered the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” the exercises just before they began on Monday.
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they → order → Monday
Explaining his reasons for the decision, the US president cited what he said was a good relationship with North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, and South Korea’s refusal to support him over the war against Iran.
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he → explain → Iran
Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of the North Korean leader, dismissed Trump’s overture on Wednesday, saying it was not worthy of comment.
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it → dismiss → comment
“The provocative, aggressive nature of the drills won’t change even though their duration and size were reduced,” she said.
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she → change → drills
“If the US calculates that it can propagate its recent measure as one of so-called good faith, they will not get the desired answer.”
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they → calculate → answer
She highlighted a series of other military drills carried out by the US and South Korea earlier this year and South Korea’s push to introduce nuclear-powered submarines.
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She → highlight → submarines
However, Kim Yo-jong refrained from the typical North Korean reaction of fiery rhetoric, and said personal relations between her brother and Trump were “still excellent”.
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relations → refrain → brother
That could signal a desire by Pyongyang to wait for Trump to make bigger concessions before returning to talks.
uncertain
Trump → signal → talks
She denied Trump’s claim that Kim Jong-un had responded to his request for a conversation.
uncertain
un → deny → conversation
When asked by reporters on Wednesday if he would be meeting Kim Jong-un this year, Trump said: “Yeah, I will be.”
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I → ask → un
He would not answer a question about whether he was exchanging letters with Kim, but said he got along with him.
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he → answer → him
