US-South Korea Relations

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Seoul on Tuesday for his first visit to South Korea in nearly five years, holding talks with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and national security adviser Wi Sung-lac before a scheduled meeting with President Lee Jae-myung at the Blue House on Wednesday.

The visit comes as U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a significant reduction in joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises, a move he linked to interactions with Seoul regarding Iran's denuclearization. Trump also signaled willingness to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un again. Wang expressed satisfaction at the two Koreas moving toward peaceful coexistence, while Cho reaffirmed Seoul's commitment to the "One China" policy and sought Beijing's cooperation on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.

South Korea is also seeking to arrange a meeting between Lee and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Shenzhen. Wang will continue to Indonesia to co-chair a "2+2" foreign and defense ministers' dialogue with Defense Minister Dong Jun.

U.S. President Donald Trump expects to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un again before the end of 2026, with the White House hoping to arrange the summit around the November APEC gathering in Shenzhen, China. Trump asserted that Pyongyang possesses 57 "very powerful" nuclear weapons, a figure he offered without elaboration.

The announcement comes after Trump ordered a reduction in joint military drills with Seoul. However, Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader's sister, said she was unaware of any recent contact between her brother and the U.S. president, casting doubt on how far planning has progressed.

Amid the diplomatic maneuvering, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called for complete military independence from the United States. Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Seoul for talks with his counterpart Cho Hyun, underscoring Beijing's interest in the shifting peninsula dynamics.

Kim Yo Jong has said she is unaware of any recent exchanges of messages between her brother, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and U.S. President Donald Trump, while describing the personal rapport between the two men as excellent.

She also dismissed as completely irrelevant Trump's decision to scale back joint military exercises with South Korea — drills he had previously called too expensive and an inappropriate and hostile signal toward Pyongyang.

The statements come as Trump has been pressing aides to arrange a new meeting with Kim Jong Un during a planned trip to Asia this autumn, potentially in November on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Shenzhen, China, according to The Wall Street Journal.

South Korea and the United States will end their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises on Friday, cutting the drills short by nearly a week after President Donald Trump ordered a substantial reduction in U.S. participation. The maneuvers, which began Monday, were originally scheduled to run through August 27.

Trump directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to scale back the exercises, citing their cost and arguing they send a hostile signal to North Korea. The allies will complete the first phase focused on defensive readiness while the second phase involving counter-attack scenarios will be cancelled or postponed. A Pentagon representative said the adjustments preserve basic combat readiness objectives. South Korean President Lee Jae-myung stated the exercises do not demonstrate any intention to attack North Korea.

North Korea's state news agency KCNA condemned the drills on Wednesday, calling the allies "warmongers" and vowing to exercise its right to self-defense, without acknowledging Trump's order to reduce them.

U.S. President Donald Trump said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has responded to his diplomatic overtures, signaling a potential thaw as Washington scales back joint military exercises with South Korea.

Trump on Saturday posted a photograph from the pair's June 2019 meeting at the Demilitarized Zone — their third face-to-face encounter — writing on Truth Social that he and Kim had gotten along very well. The White House has repeatedly indicated Trump is willing to engage Kim without preconditions.

During his first term, Trump met Kim three times: in Singapore in June 2018, Hanoi in February 2019, and the border village of Panmunjom in June 2019, where both leaders pledged commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Analyst Victor Cha at the Center for Strategic and International Studies suggested Kim may seek another summit after the U.S. midterm elections this autumn.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday expressed strong satisfaction with the Mecca Mutual Defense Agreement signed earlier this month by Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan. The pact, concluded on August 7 in Mecca by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, stipulates that an armed attack on any one of the three nations constitutes an attack on all. Riyadh has sought to reinforce security alliances following Iranian threats and Houthi hostility in Yemen.

Separately, Trump ordered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to significantly scale back joint military exercises with South Korea, though Seoul's defense ministry stated the drills would proceed as scheduled. The moves come as a June memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran reaches its deadline on August 17.