North Korea Calls Seoul US "Servant" After Trump Scales Back Military Drills
North Korea fired short-range ballistic missiles following President Trump's decision to scale back joint military exercises with South Korea. Pyongyang mocked Seoul as a 'servant' of the US, while Trump expressed a desire to meet Kim Jong Un later this year.
Why it matters
The move highlights the ongoing instability on the Korean Peninsula and the complex, shifting diplomatic dynamics between the US, North Korea, and South Korea.
North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles on Thursday, the South said, and Pyongyang mocked US "servant" Seoul, after President Donald Trump suggested he would meet Kim Jong Un this year.The latest launches from the nuclear-armed North come as South Korea and the United States hold a shorter edition of their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercises, following an order from Trump to scale them back.Pyongyang has long condemned US-South Korea joint exercises as rehearsals for invasion, often staging missile launches around the drills.Trump, seeking to revive the bond he claims to have forged with Kim in his first term, told reporters at the White House on Wednesday he plans to meet the North Korean leader later this year.The US president also said it was important to "get along" with Kim, adding that Pyongyang now had 57 "very powerful" nuclear weapons.
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