The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff announced on Wednesday that the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise that began on Aug. 17 would end on Aug. 21 rather than the originally scheduled Aug. 27. In short, the field training drills portion of the exercise, which was based on counterattack scenarios against enemy aggression, has been canceled, reported The Korea Herald.
North Korea gave what The Wall Street Journal described as “an icy response” to President Trump’s decision to end the exercises early, calling it an ineffectual goodwill gesture toward the Kim Jong Un regime. The drill reductions don’t merit interest or comment because nothing has fundamentally changed, said Kim Yo Jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s younger sister, in a Wednesday evening statement carried by North Korean state media. She denied Trump and her brother had recently communicated, but, she added, the relationship between the North Korean leader and Trump remains “excellent.” On Monday, Trump said Kim had responded to his outreach, describing it as “very positive.”