As Trump courts Kim, Pyongyang ups price while Seoul fears being sidelined

As Trump courts Kim, Pyongyang ups cost while Seoul fears being sidelined Experts warn Trump's transactional approach to alliance will erode political trust.

Key points

• During the first Trump administration, South Korean mediation paved the way for three Trump-Kim summits in 2018 and 2019.
• Individuals watch a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a train station in Seoul on August 20, 2026.
• While 46% see it as untrustworthy, in a recent poll by the Joongang Daily newspaper and the East Asia Institute, 45.4% of respondents see the U.S.
• South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun informed lawmakers on Wednesday he'd do his best to make sure the South Korea-U.S.
• Officially, South Korea remarked it hoped Trump's outreach would lead to renewed diplomatic engagement with North Korea.

As Trump courts Kim, Pyongyang ups cost while Seoul fears being sidelined.

Individuals watch a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a train station in Seoul on August 20, 2026. North Korea fired around 10 short-range ballistic missiles, South Korea's military remarked on August 20, hours after US President Donald Trump stated he would meet Pyongyang's leader Kim Jong Un afterwards this year. JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images hide caption. JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images.

SEOUL – North Korea rebuffed President Trump's apparent bid to reengage with Pyongyang diplomatically this week, issuing rhetorical salvos aimed at Trump's last-minute orders to shorten U.S.- South Korea joint military exercises.

Trump orders Pentagon to scale back joint military exercises with South Korea.

To reinforce its point, the North followed up afterwards in the day with a barrage of concerning a dozen short-range ballistic missiles introduced from around the capital Pyongyang eastward toward the sea, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Though the North suggested the step isn't enough to convince it to return to discussions, the U.S. And South Korean militaries wrapped up their annual drills six days earlier than initially scheduled on Friday in a conciliatory gesture toward North Korea.

In an official note carried by state media, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister Kim Yo Jong remarked Pyongyang regards the scaling back of the annual exercises as "unworthy of comment, " nor does it change, she went on, the drills' "provocative and offensive" nature.

President Trump posted on social media on Monday that he had ordered the drills shortened since he thinks they are costly and send a hostile message to North Korea. According to He afterwards, he has reached out to Kim for a session and received a positive response. Pyongyang 'raises the cost' of reengagement.

Kim Yo Jong, nevertheless, dismissed what appeared to be Trump's latest overture. Responding to Trump's claim that he had been in contact with her brother, Kim remarked, "I am not aware of it at all."

But she acknowledged that while U.S. Policies towards North Korea remain hostile, "the relationship between the two leaders is still excellent."

Notably, the implication of Kim's sister's message is that she is "raising the price of re-engagement, rather than closing the door to a summit" between Trump and her brother, notes Kuyoun Chung, a political scientist at Kangwon National University.

Since Trump's return to the White House last year, Pyongyang has repeatedly demanded recognition of its nuclear power status as a condition for resuming diplomacy. Since it would negate its long-standing policy of seeking the North's denuclearization, as well as U.N, washington has so far been unwilling to do so. Security Council resolutions. South Korea ditches 'denuclearization-first' strategy. What will Pyongyang do next?

As North Korea's nuclear programs have advanced, pressure on them to denuclearize has weakened. Seoul's policy is shifting from demanding denuclearization to seeking arms control, and calls in Washington for a similar approach have gained traction.

While Kim may see little point in session Trump, "it is entirely possible, in my view, that there could be a pro forma meeting, in which the two sides shake hands, sit down, have a nice chat, agree to discuss again, " and go home, states Joseph Yun. This person stepped down as acting ambassador to South Korea last October. South Korea fears being sidelined again.

During the first Trump administration, South Korean mediation paved the way for three Trump-Kim summits in 2018 and 2019. After the last summit failed to produce a accord, Kim bitterly accused Trump of playing him for an "idiot."

South Korean soldiers take part in an anti-terror drill at a hotel in Seoul on August 19, 2026, on the sidelines of a major South Korea-US joint military exercise named Ulchi Freedom Shield. After US President Donald Trump ordered the "inappropriate and hostile" drills scaled back, annual war games between South Korea and the United States will end around a week earlier than planned, both countries remarked on August 19. JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images hide caption. JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images.

That led to a landmark shift in North Korea's foreign policy. It has strengthened Kim's position. In 2023, North Korea formally abandoned the goal of reunifying with South Korea. Kim additionally signed a mutual defense pact with Russia, and revived ties with China, all but ruling out any role for South Korea as mediator.

But South Koreans have been shocked by this week's events. It have heightened their fears of being sidelined during a Trump-Kim summit. While leaving their nuclear arms in place, they fear that so as to seal a accord with Kim, Trump could withdraw U.S. Troops from South Korea and lift economic sanctions on the North.

"The United States would simply reap the diplomatic benefits of the summit, " Kuyoun Chung notes, "while South Korea bears all the security consequences of the concessions to North Korea."

This week, South Korea sought China's support with North Korea. Visiting Foreign Minister Wang Yi pledged that China would continue to promote "peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula."

But asked whether China could support broker a summit between the U.S. And North Korea, Wang stated the two countries should handle that themselves, and the U.S. Should drop its hostile policies towards the North. Transactional approach risks 'eroding political trust'.

Trump's curtailing the military drills has fueled South Korea's unease regarding the future of the alliance with the U.S.

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun informed lawmakers on Wednesday he'd do his best "to make sure the South Korea-U.S. Alliance does not weaken" as the U.S. Pursues dialogue with Pyongyang. Cho admitted that Seoul was caught off guard by Trump's orders.

But for Trump, Seoul has fallen short on his demands. In the same social media post on Monday, Trump additionally complained that South Korea had declined his request to join the U.S. In its operations against Iran.

Cho Hyun remarked Wednesday that Trump's order to shorten drills was intended in part to pressure South Korea to speed up its investment of $350 billion in the U.S., in exchange for lower tariffs.

Meanwhile, the administrations of President Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung "actually share several broad objectives, " notes Yu Jihoon, a research fellow at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, a administration think tank. They include restarting diplomacy with North Korea and increasing South Korea's responsibility for defending itself. Where they differ is Trump's transactional approach.

"If South Koreans begin to believe that security commitments or military exercises can be used as leverage over unrelated issues such as Iran, investment, trade, or broader foreign policy disagreements, " Yu notes, "confidence in Washington's reliability could weaken."

Yu does not believe the South Korea-U.S. Alliance is regarding to implode right away. "The greater risk is the gradual erosion of political trust, " he notes.

That erosion appears to be well under way. While 46% see it as untrustworthy, in a recent poll by the Joongang Daily newspaper and the East Asia Institute, 45.4% of respondents see the U.S. As a trustworthy partner.

And of the 43.6% of respondents who have a negative impression of the U.S., three quarters attribute it to what they see as the U.S.'s coercive behavior towards allies on problems including trade, investment and defense.

In short, as Trump courts Kim, Pyongyang ups price while Seoul fears being sidelined is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.