President Donald Trump made history during his first term by meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in two summits and a brief third encounter. The United States and North Korea turned the dangerous escalation of 2017 into summit diplomacy in 2018. But after a promising first meeting in Singapore in June 2018, the two leaders left Hanoi in early 2019 without an agreement, and their brief encounter at the Demilitarized Zone later that year failed to revive the process. Relations have deteriorated ever since.
Kim has used the intervening years to strengthen his nuclear and missile programs, entrench North Korea as a permanent nuclear-weapon state, rejuvenate his alliance with Russia, and ensure that Xi Jinping remains invested in preserving Beijing’s influence on the Korean Peninsula. Despite South Korea’s sharp political shift from Yoon Suk-yeol to Lee Jae-myung, and President Lee’s recent calls for renewed inter-Korean dialogue, Kim remains resolutely uninterested in serious engagement.
President Trump frequently emphasizes his good personal relationship with Kim, and few would question his confidence in dealing directly with strong leaders or pursuing unconventional diplomacy. But personal rapport with North Korea’s dictator does little to alter Kim’s strategic calculations. Those calculations center on strengthening Pyongyang’s nuclear posture, securing a survivable second-strike capability, deterring a preemptive attack, and exploiting growing military capabilities for coercive leverage.
Against that backdrop, the decision to pull U.S. troops out of one of the two major annual U.S.–South Korean military exercises erodes deterrence and represents an unnecessary retreat from “peace through strength.” Dialogue is worthwhile, but the United States should negotiate from strength. We should not expect Kim to reward weakness.
More troubling, President Trump’s social-media commentary suggests that Washington is penalizing South Korea in part because of Seoul’s reluctance to be drawn into a conflict with Iran, a conflict on which South Korea was hardly consulted. Nor did Seoul have a say as the United States depleted stocks of standoff weapons and missile interceptors to levels that raise questions about the administration’s own strategy of deterrence by denial along the first island chain.
Washington may disagree with some of President Lee’s policies, but it should not fault his government for failing to contribute to the alliance. South Korea carries a substantial defense burden and possesses industrial capabilities increasingly vital to American security. Few major U.S. allies devote a larger share of their economy to defense, and South Korea is indispensable to revitalizing the U.S. defense industrial base, particularly in shipbuilding, while remaining a critical partner in technologies such as semiconductors.
President Trump’s social-media commentary and apparently hasty decision on military exercises could nonetheless have some unintended benefits. First, they may test whether Kim will finally respond to the Trump administration’s repeated back-channel overtures, perhaps setting the stage for another encounter when Trump travels to Asia later this year. Second, scaling back the exercise aligns with the Lee administration’s own emphasis on reopening dialogue with North Korea. Third, Kim’s strengthened ties with Russia and renewed support from China may leave him feeling secure enough to meet the American president again.
But expectations should remain modest. Serious arms control is unlikely. At best, another encounter might produce a rhetorical commitment to peace or vague language on nuclear weapons that future governments could readily disown. Such diplomacy should therefore remain secondary to the more urgent task of rebuilding American economic and military strength.
The administration should concentrate on executing its broad trade and investment agreement with South Korea, including Seoul’s pledged $150 billion investment in shipbuilding and $200 billion in other sectors. That is real money directed toward concrete American and South Korean interests.
By contrast, another round of photo opportunities with Kim, whose export of KN-23 and KN-24 missiles and deployment of troops have helped sustain Russia’s war against Ukraine, is of secondary strategic importance. Washington should focus more, not less, on rebuilding the U.S. defense industrial base, replenishing depleted munitions, accelerating military modernization, and fielding new systems at scale.
President Trump is too quick to use social media to make and signal consequential strategic decisions. The task now is to ensure that his next steps advance U.S. interests rather than undermine them. That means keeping the door open to diplomacy with Kim Jong Un while negotiating from strength. Above all, it means strengthening strategic alignment with South Korea and America’s other key Asian allies.
***
Patrick M. Cronin is the Asia-Pacific security chair at Hudson Institute.

TOPSHOT-SKOREA-US-NKOREA-DIPLOMACY

Don’t Punish Seoul To Appease Pyongyang

DW Opinion

Foreign Policy

Kim Jong Un

Lee Jae-myung

North Korea

President Donald Trump

South Korea

Xi Jinping

Confusing adversaries and allies is a basic foreign policy mistake. Leveraging enemies to attack friends is a deeper failure. President Trump committed both errors on Sunday when he announced that he was ordering the Pentagon to “substantially reduce the Joint Military Exercises” with South Korea. According to his post on social media, the president’s justifications were his “very good relationship” with Pyongyang’s dictator Kim Jong-un, and Seoul’s failure to help Washington in its war with Tehran.
Trump’s explanation contradicts his dismissal of Seoul five months ago: “WE NEVER DID” need South Korea’s help to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Nor did America, in Trump’s telling, need anyone’s help. Now, months later, the president is revisiting a gambit he played in his first term: scaling down joint exercises with Seoul, apparently as an olive branch to Kim.
Trump may have legitimate reasons to be frustrated with South Korea. The liberal party in Seoul has an established track record of engagement with China, and has actively sought to weaken American sanctions on North Korea in years past. We should expect allies to act as allies.
It is equally true that America’s partners should expect the global hegemony to act predictably in its own interests. Regardless of Seoul’s behavior, Washington benefits when Pyongyang is hemmed in and deterred from adventurism and belligerence. More broadly, America’s interests demand that North Korea never unify the peninsula. For these reasons alone, military exercises with South Korea should persist.
Trump’s idiosyncratic view of international relations risks unwittingly empowering America’s enemies. To be sure, Kim is delighted by any indication of American weakness, and will move to exploit any daylight between Washington and Seoul. Of greater import is how Pyongyang’s northern neighbor views this move.
Xi Jinping has had ample opportunity to take the measure of Donald Trump. His first interaction with the president in 2017 consisted of Trump temporarily leaving the dining hall in Mar-a-Lago to order a strike on Syria. Trump’s choreographed bravado signaled strength and resolve to Xi, as did the president’s successful operation against Nicholas Maduro in his second term.
But Xi has also witnessed Trump’s fundamental rejection of traditional categories for America’s friends and enemies. Trump has accused Volodymyr Zelensky of starting the war with Russia. He heard Trump scold Taiwan earlier this year as he left Beijing, insisting that Taipei lower the temperature with China. He also took note of Trump’s delay of arms sales to Taiwan. And, of course, the whole world witnessed Trump’s repeated attempts last year to downgrade America’s alliance with South Korea.
Confusing allies and adversaries risks misallocating trust and threats, like a chef mistaking sugar for salt. Trump needs to maintain deterrence in East Asia. Two wars are already raging in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. In response to the latter, the Pentagon recently redeployed the USS George Washington from the Indo-Pacific to the Persian Gulf to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln. No carriers are now in or near East Asia. Compounding this capability shortfall is the drawdown of Tomahawk missiles and other standoff platforms the Pentagon would need in a China scenario. Trump is coupling a numbers problem with a judgment problem.
These intersecting trends present Xi, and any other anti-American despot, with an easy response: follow Kim’s lead. Convince Trump that you’re “unthreatening and respectful,” and reap the windfall of unilateral concessions from America. As a bonus, the administration in Washington may blame America’s allies for being “hostile.” Trump already fell into these patterns with Taiwan earlier this summer. Xi will likely seek to pull the president further down this road.
To a point, the president’s frustrations with allies are understandable. More than any of his predecessors, Trump has called on America’s partners to do their part and contribute to their own security. For that, he deserves great credit. But nixing readiness exercises on the Korean Peninsula, with nuclear table stakes, smacks of poor judgment and misplaced optimism in the president’s own ability to untangle intractable challenges that go back to 1950. Ignoring the historical roots of the present is a quick ticket to catastrophe. The challenge of North Korea isn’t the lack of dealmaking presidents or petulant partners in Seoul, but Pyongyang’s Communist ideology, Washington’s failure to prevent its nuclearization, and haphazard policies that have oscillated from confrontation to conciliation.
Trump is unknowingly playing into that perverse pattern. By doing so, he is projecting weakness to Kim Jong-un’s northern neighbor and East Asia’s most powerful dictator. Canceling military exercises with South Korea is likely unfinished business from Trump’s first term. The day may come when the president sees the wisdom of his former advisors who counseled against doing so.
***
Michael Sobolik is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.

U.S. President Trump Participates In Honor Presentation During Trip To South Korea

Trump’s Break With South Korea Projects Weakness In The Pacific

Communist China

President Donald Trump said Sunday he has directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to &#8220;substantially reduce&#8221; joint military exercises with South Korea, citing his &#8220;very good relationship&#8221; with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and what he said was Seoul&#8217;s refusal to help the United States denuclearize Iran.
“Based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong Un, of North Korea, I am not happy with the fact that the United States has, long ago, agreed to participate in Joint Military Exercises with South Korea,” Trump wrote on <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117107215379637520">Truth Social</a>.
Trump said the exercises are costly, &#8220;with much of these costs paid for by the United States of America (as usual!),&#8221; and send a signal he called &#8220;totally inappropriate and hostile&#8221; toward North Korea, which he said &#8220;has been unthreatening and respectful&#8221; throughout his presidency.
North Korea has conducted two ballistic missile tests this month, however, firing a short-range missile on August 6 and another that flew more than 700 kilometers on August 12 local time — Pyongyang&#8217;s 11th ballistic missile test of the year by South Korean count. North Korea&#8217;s Foreign Ministry on Friday called the coming drills a rehearsal for an aggressive war and threatened unspecified countermeasures.
The announcement came one day before the allies were set to begin Ulchi Freedom Shield, which runs from August 17 to August 27 and involves roughly 18,000 South Korean troops. The allies had already trimmed the exercise before Trump&#8217;s post, cutting combined field training events at the battalion level or above to 14 from 17 last year. Trump said it was too late to cancel this year&#8217;s drills, but he did not specify whether the reductions apply to the exercise beginning Monday or to future ones, and it was not immediately clear what a scaled-back version would look like.
Trump also linked the decision to South Korea&#8217;s posture on Iran, where the United States and Israel have been engaged in a military campaign since late February aimed in part at dismantling Tehran&#8217;s nuclear program. &#8220;While somewhat unrelated (?), I recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, &#8216;No thanks!'&#8221; Trump wrote, referring to President Lee Jae Myung. Seoul has not publicly confirmed the exchange.
South Korea has been a treaty ally since 1953 and hosts roughly 28,500 American troops, including at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, the largest U.S. military installation overseas.
Trump has long been skeptical of large-scale exercises on the peninsula. After his June 2018 summit with Kim in Singapore, he announced the United States would stop what he <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/12/politics/trump-us-military-war-games-south-korea-intl">called</a> &#8220;war games,&#8221; describing them as &#8220;provocative&#8221; and &#8220;inappropriate&#8221; while the two sides negotiated. He said at the time that the drills cost &#8220;a tremendous amount of money,&#8221; though the Pentagon later estimated that the Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise cancelled that summer would have cost about $14 million. The allies scrapped that exercise outright and replaced several other large drills with smaller ones as Trump pursued negotiations with Kim.
Trump has repeatedly emphasized his personal relationship with Kim since returning to office. He posted a photo on <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117100150900258418">Truth Social</a> of the two leaders Saturday, writing that despite their “unfriendly look” in the picture, “there are many where we’re smiling, Kim Jong Un and I get along GREAT!”
The latest decision comes at a particularly notable moment for relations between Seoul and Pyongyang.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/15/south-koreas-lee-urges-talks-with-north-korea-about-finally-ending-korean-war">called</a> Saturday for renewed talks with North Korea and said Seoul would seek to replace the armistice that halted the 1950-1953 Korean War with a formal “peace regime.” Lee also called for safeguards to prevent conflict and said negotiations could explore ways to curb North Korea’s nuclear capabilities.
North Korea, however, has repeatedly rejected Seoul’s overtures while denouncing U.S.-South Korean military exercises as provocations. Kim has also abandoned Pyongyang’s longstanding policy of pursuing reunification with the South and has instead described South Korea as its “most hostile state.”
Trump’s decision therefore introduces another variable into Seoul’s push for a more permanent peace arrangement with Pyongyang, while raising fresh questions about the future scale of the U.S. military presence and exercises on the peninsula.

U.S. President Donald Trump Visits South Korea

Trump’s ‘Very Good’ Relationship With Kim Jong Un Prompts Korea Drill Reduction

Donald Trump

Global Politics

Politics

Fresh photos reveal the scars left behind after a SpaceX rocket stage slammed into the moon at a mind-boggling 5,400 mph.
South Korea’s Danuri spacecraft captured the first look at the cosmic crash site after making multiple orbits above the freshly carved crater. The Korea Aerospace Research Institute released the before-and-after snapshots, showing a noticeably darkened space where the rogue Falcon 9 upper stage plowed into the moon on Wednesday, blasting dust and debris across the landscape.
<div id="attachment_1153083" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1153083" class="wp-image-1153083 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/Untitled-design-2026-08-07T081932.539-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/Untitled-design-2026-08-07T081932.539-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/Untitled-design-2026-08-07T081932.539-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/Untitled-design-2026-08-07T081932.539-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/Untitled-design-2026-08-07T081932.539.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Credit: Reuters: Korea AeroSpace Research Institute</div>
The 45-foot-long, 8,800-pound upper stage was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/spacex-rocket-crashes-into-the-moon">originally launched</a> by Elon Musk’s aerospace giant back in January 2025 to deliver private lunar landers. While lower-orbit rocket parts usually burn up harmlessly in Earth&#8217;s atmosphere, high-energy deep-space missions require complicated disposals. Over time, gravitational pulls and solar radiation knocked the hulk off course, putting it on a collision trajectory with the moon near the Einstein crater.
Scientists estimate the high-speed impact blasted out a brand-new crater spanning up to 60 feet wide and 12 feet deep. The flash of the violent crash lasted roughly one second, but the ejected lunar dust could scatter hundreds of miles across the surface.
Unlike NASA and European space agencies, which operate under strict regulatory mandates for spacecraft disposal, commercial operators follow a looser set of rules. Experts warn that unguided space debris poses a potential threat to historical lunar heritage sites, such as the iconic Apollo landing grounds.
But researchers are seizing on the accidental impact as a massive scientific opportunity. Because astronomers already knew the exact mass, velocity, and trajectory of the Falcon 9 stage, they are treating the crash as a controlled experiment so they can better understand how planetary surfaces absorb severe impacts.
South Korea&#8217;s orbiter got the jump on the action by photographing the initial impact zone, but NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is scheduled to make its own flyover next week. Researchers plan to spend months analyzing the before-and-after imagery to study the freshly exposed lunar soil. That will offer critical data as NASA pushes forward with its Artemis program.

Seasonal July Buck Moon Rises Over Krakow Skyline

See The Crash Site After SpaceX Rocket Slams Into Moon

Elon Musk

Moon

Space

Space X

There’s a new trend in South Korea that’s been popularized with compulsive shoppers looking to cut back. It involves doing a lot of online shopping — but without spending any money.
According to <a href="https://www.odditycentral.com/news/south-koreas-fake-online-stores-help-shopping-addicts-save-money.html">Oddity Central</a>, users are able to add items to a cart and check out just like during a normal online shopping experience. These goodies have user reviews and look real, but the only difference is that no money is exchanged. Shoppers can even track a courier accepting their order and bringing it to their residence. However, no item will ever arrive.
The reason for all this apparent time wasting? Supposedly, they’re doing it for the dopamine rush of online shopping, but without the sting of spending too much money in a high cost economy. 
While the trend of using “dopamine sites” has been taking off in South Korea, so far it hasn’t launched in the United States. Going solely on the basis of Reddit comments, that’s not likely to change. 
“There seems to be some psychology behind this as the idea is basically: the urge to shop isn&#8217;t really about stuff. it&#8217;s about the ritual, the anticipation, the small hit of control &amp; dopamine you feel when you click ‘add to cart.’ Your dopamine actually spikes in anticipation, not the delivery of the thing,” one Reddit user observed, <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/shoppingaddiction/comments/1u0fv4h/new_trend_south_korea_invented_fake_shopping/?rdt=49049">asking</a> the “shopping addiction” community for their feedback.
Many commenters agreed that the concept was a “waste of time.” 
“So like playing pretend for adults? We’re basically experiencing play shopping like a child again,” another Redditor replied.
“That’s weird,” another agreed.
Several users wondered if the companies were secretly mining for data or had some other nefarious purposes.
The Korea Times <a href="https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/lifestyle/trends/20260527/gen-z-turn-to-dopamine-sites-for-quick-comfort">reported</a> that these “dopamine sites” are not just for online shopping. Anyone with a craving for food they don’t really want to eat can order from a fake food delivery website to achieve the same experience. There’s also a version where users can take faux smoke breaks without lighting up.
&#8220;It somehow feels like I actually ordered something,&#8221; Kim, a 25-year-old office worker, told the outlet.
“There are many times when I crave food late at night, but hold back to save money. It feels like a real delivery app, so I somehow keep looking at it,” Kim added. &#8220;I don&#8217;t end up ordering anything, but it feels like it relieves a little stress.”

Online shopping

The New Shopping Addiction That Doesn’t Cost A Dime

addiction

Retail

The U.S.-South Korea alliance is one of America’s most important partnerships in the world. For over seven decades, it has kept the peace on the Korean Peninsula, deterred North Korean aggression, and countered Chinese and Russian influence in Northeast Asia. Nearly 28,000 American troops stand shoulder-to-shoulder with South Korean forces in defense of freedom.
The vibrant trilateral security relationship of South Korea, Japan, and the U.S. is a critical backstop to growing security threats in the Asia-Pacific region.
Economically, the U.S.-South Korea relationship is equally vital. American companies invest billions in South Korea, while Korean firms have poured billions into the U.S. — creating tens of thousands of American jobs at Hyundai, Samsung, LG, and SK Hynix plants from Georgia to Texas.
President Donald Trump and President Lee Jae-myung have forged a friendship that has strengthened this alliance at a critical moment. Their direct engagement has produced tangible progress on security cooperation, trade issues, and regional stability. That hard-earned rapport is a valuable asset for both nations.
Even so, recent incidents involving major American companies operating in South Korea risk putting this friendship and the broader partnership under unnecessary strain. Major U.S. technology companies such as Meta, Netflix, Apple, and others have faced discriminatory regulatory scrutiny and actions for years. Over the past six months, Coupang, the Seattle-based NYSE-listed e-commerce giant that has poured billions of dollars of FDI into Korea and created more than 100,000 Korean jobs, has faced threats of severe civil and even criminal penalties following a limited 2025 data breach that has been fully resolved with no risk or damage to customers.
Starbucks Korea is facing similar political theater. In May 2026, a tone-deaf marketing campaign tied to the anniversary of the Gwangju Uprising triggered a firestorm of criticism, boycotts, and government pressure that ultimately forced the local CEO’s resignation. What should have been handled as a corporate messaging misstep became a nationalist crusade, with officials and activists treating a longtime American investor like a political enemy.
While every country has the right and responsibility to enforce its laws, the scale and tone of these episodes have raised legitimate concerns among U.S. investors and policymakers about fairness and consistency. Even Korea’s National Security Adviser, Wi Sung-lac, acknowledged in April that the Coupang dispute is affecting U.S.-Korea security consultations — underscoring how quickly commercial disputes can spill over into the broader alliance.
These cases matter because they erode the confidence and goodwill that underpins the entire U.S.-South Korea relationship. For U.S. companies looking to invest, grow, and compete in Korea — just as Korean companies look to invest, grow, and compete in the U.S. — the perception and reality of a reliable, rules-based political and economic market is critically important and in the interests of Koreans and Americans alike.
While rhetoric and actions among political leaders in both countries have escalated in recent months, there is still an opportunity to defuse these needless disputes.
President Lee has an opportunity to lead by ensuring transparent, non-discriminatory regulation and resolving these matters in a spirit of partnership. By embracing U.S. companies like Coupang and Starbucks — just as the U.S. has embraced Korean companies — President Lee can remove a longstanding and growing irritant in the bilateral relationship and safeguard the alliance that benefits both nations.
The challenges facing the alliance are too serious to allow these internal frictions to fester or grow. North Korea continues to expand its nuclear and missile programs. China’s military modernization and economic coercion grow more assertive. There is no time for the United States and South Korea to let business disputes weaken a partnership that has delivered security and prosperity to both countries for more than 70 years. South Korea should embrace this opportunity and recalibrate its crusade against U.S. firms.
President Lee’s personal friendship with President Trump offers a strong foundation. By addressing these concerns promptly and fairly, he can turn potential friction into further proof that the U.S.-South Korea alliance remains rock-solid. The relationship is too valuable to let it be strained. The time to reinforce it is now.
***
Fred Fleitz served as Chief of Staff of the National Security Council during President Trump’s first term. He spent 25 years in national security positions at the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the State Department, and on the staff of the House Intelligence Committee. He is author of <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/fredfleitz.com/__;!!F0Stn7g!GLCaLhnO0AC-43caBSKdRabbsrM7TjLVvs9sSodUOTBF3_4c39VXchsV5Z0SBOxQwOTjv2cIXeQMYPe2nFYu$">North Korea, Nuclear Brinkmanship, and the Oval Office,</a> which was just released by Texas A&amp;M Press.

American and South Korean flag standing on the table

The U.S.-South Korea Alliance Is Worth More Than Recent Trivial Conflicts

North Korea fired more than 10 ballistic missiles into the sea on Saturday, South Korea&#8217;s military said, as the U.S. and South Korean forces conducted military drills and U.S. President Donald Trump renewed overtures towards Pyongyang for dialogue.
The missiles were launched from an area near the capital Pyongyang, around 1:20 p.m. (0430 GMT) towards the sea off the country&#8217;s east coast, South Korea&#8217;s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
Japan&#8217;s coast guard said it had detected what could be a ballistic missile that fell into the sea. It appeared to have fallen outside Japan&#8217;s exclusive economic zone, public broadcaster NHK said, citing the military.
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement on Saturday that it is aware of the missile launches and is consulting with allies and partners.
&#8220;Based on current assessments, this event does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to our allies,&#8221; the USINDOPACOM posted on social media platform X.
North Korea has test-launched a wide range of ballistic and cruise missiles for more than two decades in a push to develop the means to deliver nuclear weapons, which it is believed to have successfully built.
As a result, Pyongyang has been under multiple U.N. Security Council sanctions since 2006 but it remains defiant, despite severe obstacles they created to its trade, economy and defense.
South Korea and Washington this week launched the annual major drills in South Korea, which they say are purely defensive, aimed at testing readiness against military threats from North Korea.
Hundreds of U.S. and South Korean troops conducted river-crossing drills on Saturday with hardware including tanks and armored combat vehicles, overseen by the commander of their combined forces. The U.S. military has about 28,500 troops and squadrons of fighter jets stationed in South Korea.
North Korea frequently displays its anger at such exercises, saying they are &#8220;dress rehearsals&#8221; for armed aggression against it by the allies.
On Thursday, South Korea&#8217;s Prime Minister Kim Min-seok met U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington to discuss ways to reopen dialogue with the North. Trump is eager for any opportunity to sit down with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, South Korea&#8217;s Kim told reporters.
(Reporting by Jack Kim, Sebin Choi, Heejin Kim in Seoul, Daewoung Kim in Yeoncheon, South Korea, Anton Bridge in Tokyo; Editing by William Mallard, Sergio Non and Chizu Nomiyama )

North Korea Fires 10 Ballistic Missiles During U.S.-South Korea Military Drills

Baliistic Missiles

Military

World

President Donald Trump ends his Asia tour with a much-anticipated sit-down with China’s Xi Jinping, a scathing report on Joe Biden’s presidency casts doubt on key executive actions, and Canada&#8217;s government is pressured to include minors in its euthanasia program.
It’s Thursday, October 30, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mrn-251030-member-exclusive">the video version can be seen on The Daily Wire</a>:
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump V. Xi In South Korea</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-993375" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/South-Korea-Summit-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/South-Korea-Summit-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/South-Korea-Summit-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/South-Korea-Summit-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/South-Korea-Summit-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/South-Korea-Summit.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: The eyes of the world turned to South Korea, as President Trump sat down with China’s Xi Jinping for a high-stakes meeting.
Trump v. Xi: President Donald Trump cut tariffs on China overnight after President Xi Jinping promised to purchase large amounts of farm products from the United States and crack down on fentanyl trafficking. 
Trump said the tariff rate on China would be reduced from 57% to 47% after a high-stakes meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in South Korea. In return, he said China promised to purchase American soybeans, sorghum, and other farm products and stop the flow of fentanyl into the United States.
“I had a truly great meeting with President Xi of China. There is enormous respect between our two Countries, and that will only be enhanced with what just took place,” Trump posted on Truth Social after the meeting. “We agreed on many things, with others, even of high importance, being very close to resolved.”
Join us now during our exclusive Deal of the Decade. Get everything for $7 a month. Not as fans. As fighters. Go to <a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DailyWire.com/Subscribe</a> to join now.
Trump added that China had agreed to “continue the flow” of rare earth minerals used in products ranging from cell phones to fighter jets. China had been looking to implement strict export controls on the minerals.
The meeting began late Wednesday night by United States time. 
Just minutes before the meeting began, President Trump issued a stunning social media <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115460423936412555">post</a>, saying, “Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately.”
The U.S. has not tested any nuclear weapons for the last 33 years. The timing of that message is no accident. In the last week alone, Vladimir Putin announced that Russia had successfully tested nuclear-powered, nuclear-capable cruise missiles, along with a nuclear-capable torpedo. 
North Korea also claims to have conducted missile tests of its own. But this appears to be directed at Xi, who has overseen a historic nuclear buildup in China, growing its arsenal at an alarming pace. Despite that apparent warning, once Trump and Xi met just a few moments later, the two were all smiles, with Trump cracking a joke as they shook hands.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Biden Autopen Questions Grow</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-993373" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Signed-Without-Consent-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Signed-Without-Consent-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Signed-Without-Consent-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Signed-Without-Consent-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Signed-Without-Consent-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Signed-Without-Consent.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: The House Oversight Committee has recommended that the Justice Department investigate the Biden White House’s use of an autopen to sign official presidential actions. In a 100-page <a href="https://oversight.house.gov/release/oversight-committee-releases-report-on-the-biden-autopen-presidency/">report</a> released this week, Republicans charged Biden staffers with covering up for an increasingly senile president and taking action without his knowledge.
Republicans want the DOJ to take a deep look at former President Joe Biden’s use of an autopen because many of the actions Biden took – or appeared to take – may not have been valid. Committee Chairman James Comer asked Attorney General Pam Bondi for a “comprehensive review of all executive actions taken during the Biden presidency.”
Comer also asked for special attention to be paid to White House doctor Kevin O’Connor, deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini, and senior adviser to the first lady Anthony Bernal. They all pleaded the Fifth during the House investigation.
Comer v. O’Connor: Comer sent a letter to the D.C. Board of Medicine asking for a review of O&#8217;Connor’s work as the chief White House doctor. The report says testimony indicates that O’Connor “may have succumbed to political pressure” and hid Biden’s health decline from the American people.
Comer said the medical board should consider whether O’Connor “issu[ed] misleading medical reports, misrepresent[ed] treatments, or [failed] to conform to standards of practice” in violation of D.C. law. If any violations are found, the D.C. Board of Medicine could discipline O’Connor or even <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/10/28/us-news/biden-white-house-doctor-kevin-oconnor-referred-for-investigation-of-ex-prez-health-cover-up-could-lose-license/?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=nypost&amp;utm_source=twitter">revoke</a> his medical license.
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">Canada&#8217;s Growing Euthanasia Movement</h2>
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Topline: Canada’s euthanasia program is rapidly expanding, with some groups calling for minors as young as 12 years old to be included in the government-funded program. 
MAiD, or Medical Assistance in Dying, is effectively an euthanasia program funded by the Canadian government. It began in 2016 for people whose natural death was “reasonably foreseeable” and who wanted to end their lives. The program has only expanded since, particularly in 2021, when chronic illness and disability became included as reasons for someone to be euthanized. 
Since its inception, more people have undergone these procedures. Thousands of Canadians now do this annually.
Efforts to expand MAiD: Advocates want children 12 years and older to have access to MAiD. Current rules state that one must be 18 years old to be considered for this procedure.
The general argument is that children need more autonomy in health care, and the MAiD program is supposedly about “compassion.” Advocates also noted that minors can already consent or refuse certain treatments, so permitting this would be consistent. Finally, advocates will point to the Netherlands, where assisted dying for “mature minors” has been legal since 2002.
As for consent, one advocacy group called “Dying With Dignity Canada” recommends that minors between 12 and 15 years old have parental permission to be euthanized. It does not recommend that as a requirement for minors aged 16 and 17, however.
Morning Wire spoke to Dr. Aaron Kheriaty, a psychiatrist, author, and a director at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, about the euthanasia movement.
“Once you cross the line of allowing doctors to kill patients, once you cross the line of accepting the basic premise of the euthanasia movement, which is that some lives are not worth living and therefore these people should be killed by the medical profession, then it&#8217;s very hard to argue that there should be any limitations to that,” said Kheriaty.
In addition to advocating for minors to be permitted in the program, there is a strong push to include people who suffer solely from mental health issues. That section is set to take effect in 2027. 
Euthanasia is not legal in the U.S.; however, several states do permit assisted suicide. This is a domestic movement that is worth watching closely and has undoubtedly been influenced by our neighbors up north.

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Morning Brief: Trump Meets With Xi, Biden Autopen Probe, & A Growing Euthanasia Obsession

Morning Brief: South Korea Summit, Autopen Investigation, And Canada's Euthanasia Obsession

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President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he had “pretty much” finalized the details of a trade deal with South Korea that is expected to bring hundreds of billions of dollars in investments into the United States. 
Trump’s announcement came after he arrived in South Korea to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. The regional economic forum will be the last stop on Trump&#8217;s trade-focused Asia tour before he returns to the United States. 
“We had a tremendous meeting today with South Korea,” Trump said. “Pretty much finalized a trade deal, and we discussed some other things having to do with national security, etc. And I think we came to a conclusion on a lot of very important items.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &#8220;We had a tremendous meeting today with South Korea — with lots determined&#8230; We pretty much finalized a trade deal and we discussed some other things having to do with national security.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/I3KWsgAhFf">pic.twitter.com/I3KWsgAhFf</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1983492447146533227?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 29, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Under the terms of the agreement, South Korea is <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/29/trump-announces-trade-breakthrough-with-south-korea-on-asia-trip.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expected</a> to invest a total of $350 billion in the United States, including $200 billion in cash and $150 million in shipbuilding. Tariffs on cars will also be slashed from 25% to 15%, according to South Korean officials. 
Upon his arrival in South Korea, Trump was given a series of elaborate gifts by officials, including a replica golden crown and a laurel leaf medal. 
Later, during a dinner with officials, Trump spoke about the rocky relationship between North and South Korea. 
&#8220;I won&#8217;t forget the trip and we&#8217;ll be working together and you have a little bit of a cloud over your country, and we&#8217;re going to get that cloud solved. You have a neighbor that hasn&#8217;t been as nice as they could be, and I think they will be. I know Kim Jong Un very well, and I think things will work out very well.&#8221;
Trump said he was open to meeting Kim during the trip, but the North Korean dictator has so far declined to engage.
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Trump’s meeting with South Korea comes ahead of a much-anticipated Thursday meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. 
“We&#8217;ve been talking a lot over the last month, and I think we&#8217;re going to have something that&#8217;s going to be very, very satisfactory to China and to us. I think we&#8217;re going to have… I think it&#8217;s going to be a very good meeting. I look forward to it tomorrow morning,” Trump said. 
Trump echoed those remarks on Truth Social, saying his Asia trip would bring back trillions of dollars to the United States and that his meeting with Xi would be “great” for both nations. 
Earlier this month, Trump threatened to cancel his planned meeting with Xi after he accused China of taking “very hostile” actions on trade.

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Trump’s Asia Tour Delivers: South Korea Deal ‘Pretty Much Finalized,’ China Talks Next

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President Donald Trump said Monday that he would consider extending his Asia trip to meet with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One, Trump said that he would “love” to meet with Kim. Trump is currently in Japan and is set to end his Asia trip with a visit to South Korea. Trump first floated the possibility of meeting with Kim before departing on Friday for a five-day trip to Asia that has focused on trade. 
“I haven’t mentioned it. I haven’t said anything, but I’d love to meet with him if he’d like to meet. I got along great with Kim Jong Un. I liked him. He liked me. If he wants to meet, I’ll be in South Korea,” Trump said when asked if he had any plans to meet with Kim. 
If they did have a meeting, Trump suggested they would discuss sanctions. 
“Well, we have sanctions. It’s pretty big. I would say that&#8217;s about as big as you get,” Trump said. “I just had a good relationship with him. I would love to see him if he wants to, if he even gets this message. We haven&#8217;t mentioned that, but he knows I&#8217;m going over there. If he&#8217;d like to meet, I&#8217;d love to meet him.”
In September, Kim <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/10/27/trump-asia-trip/">reportedly</a> said that he would meet with Trump if “the U.S. drops its hollow obsession with denuclearization.”
During his first term, Trump became the first president to cross into North Korea’s demilitarized zone and meet with Kim to discuss the communist country&#8217;s nuclear program. He met with Kim on two other occasions. 
Last month, Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-accuses-china-of-plotting-against-us-as-xi-flexes-military-power-alongside-putin?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Accuses+China+Of+Plotting+Against+US+As+Xi+Flexes+Military+Power+Alongside+Putin">accused</a> North Korea of conspiring with Russia and China against the United States after Kim attended a massive Chinese military parade alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. 
“May President Xi and the wonderful people of China have a great and lasting day of celebration,” Trump said on Truth Social. “Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against The United States of America.”
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While in South Korea, American officials will finalize the details of a trade agreement. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that the overall framework of a deal with South Korea was in place and that the final details were being worked out. 
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the talks were focusing on removing non-tariff barriers to trade imposed by South Korea. South Korea is also expected to invest heavily in American shipbuilding. 
“We&#8217;re very much involved in getting the shipbuilding going again, which really we should have never lost years ago,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;We were number one.&#8221;

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Trump: ‘I’d Love’ Another Sit-Down With North Korea’s Kim Jong Un

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In the shadow of gleaming skyscrapers and a bustling democracy, a dark chapter in South Korea’s history is currently unfolding.
On September 8, 2025, just two days after meeting with Charlie Kirk at Build Up Korea — an event similar in style and purpose to Turning Point USA’s signature events here in the United States — Pastor Son Hyun-bo was arrested and imprisoned by the South Korean government.
His crime? Preaching from the pulpit, organizing prayer rallies, and daring to critique politicians in sermons that touched on moral issues like anti-discrimination laws and Biblical marriage.
This is clearly Christian persecution cloaked in the language of &#8220;election law violations.&#8221; It echoes the tyrannical playbooks of communist regimes past. And it is a stark reminder that the forces arrayed against Christianity are global, insidious, and relentless.
Pastor Son, the 63-year-old leader of Segero Church in Busan, is no radical agitator. He&#8217;s a man of unyielding faith who transformed a tiny, struggling, rural congregation of 20 members into a thriving megachurch with over 4,000 weekly attendees. Starting in 1993, he baptized around 1,000 souls annually for more than 15 years. During his military service in the 1980s under a dictatorial regime, he endured brutal beatings for insisting on Sunday worship, yet evangelized his entire Special Forces unit that he served in, earning the nickname &#8220;Special Forces Pastor.&#8221; Even amid COVID-19 lockdowns in 2021, he defied government bans, holding outdoor services to preserve the right to gather in faith.
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But Pastor Son&#8217;s boldness extended beyond the sanctuary. He organized massive &#8220;Save Korea&#8221; prayer rallies, including a 2024 event that drew over a million participants online and in person, decrying threats to religious freedom and national values. In 2025, during elections for Busan&#8217;s education superintendent and the presidency, Son’s sermons and events addressed candidates&#8217; stances on issues dear to Christians.
Prosecutors twisted these into &#8220;illegal electioneering,&#8221; citing the use of microphones, YouTube uploads, and even hymns as evidence of &#8220;disguised rallies.&#8221; The arrest warrant, issued by Judge Eom Sung-hwan on September 9, absurdly claimed a &#8220;flight risk&#8221; for a man who&#8217;s lived openly in Busan for three decades, cooperated with investigations, and left all his sermons publicly online.
This isn&#8217;t an isolated miscarriage of justice — it&#8217;s a calculated assault on religious liberty.
South Korea&#8217;s constitution guarantees freedom of religion under Article 20, and international covenants like the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights protect against arbitrary detention and suppression of faith. Yet here we see a pastor jailed for what amounts to moral commentary, while pro-North Korea activists have received leniency from the same judiciary.
Conservative leaders like Han Dong-hoon, Na Kyung-won, Kim Moon-soo, and Choi Jae-hyung have decried it as excessive, political retaliation, and a threat to democracy. The General Assembly of Presbyterian Churches in Korea called it a &#8220;grave situation that threatens the freedom of religion.&#8221; Pastor Son&#8217;s real offense? Criticizing leftist President Lee Jae-myung and standing firm against policies that erode Christian values.
Enter Charlie Kirk, whose tragic assassination just days after his visit to South Korea leaves his mission unfinished. On September 6 and 7, Kirk headlined the &#8220;Build Up Korea&#8221; event, rallying thousands of young Koreans to defend freedom and faith in a nation where Christianity comprises about 25% of the population. Backstage, he met Pastor Son, who had organized massive protests against a pro-trans bill and faced government raids for his activism.
Kirk promised that if Son were arrested, he&#8217;d alert President Donald Trump and mobilize America against this &#8220;weaponization&#8221; of law against Bible-believing Christians. In his speech, Kirk warned: &#8220;If you don’t focus on the second thing — making sure you can spread Jesus — then we will all be sharing the Gospel from a prison cell one day!&#8221;
Kirk&#8217;s words were prophetic. This is the communist tactic in action: ostracize Christians by painting them as threats to the state; characterize them as &#8220;others&#8221; who disrupt social harmony; terrorize them through raids, arrests, and imprisonment; and normalize that terror until dissent vanishes. We&#8217;ve seen it in Mao&#8217;s China, Stalin&#8217;s Russia, and now creeping into South Korea under a president cozying up to Beijing and Pyongyang. The Left doesn&#8217;t debate faith; it silences it, turning pulpits into crime scenes and prayers into indictments.
American Christians, this is our wakeup call. We&#8217;re in a revival moment, but revival without resolve is fleeting. We must channel Kirk&#8217;s unfinished work: amplify Pastor Son&#8217;s plight, pressure South Korea through diplomatic channels, and support organizations like the Free Press Foundation that expose such injustices. Petition your representatives to condemn this; pray for Son&#8217;s release; and demand that President Lee reverse course before South Korea slides further into authoritarianism.
Pastor Rob McCoy of Calvary Chapel in Thousand Oaks, and Pastor Stephen Martin of Vintage Church in Harker Heights, Texas, just returned from a visit to Segero Church, where they encouraged leaders to stand strong, speak out, and not go silently into persecution. They are seeking to carry out Charlie Kirk’s mission, which he had promised to return and complete. He would have undoubtedly done so had he not been martyred. These courageous pastors are working to draw attention to this unfinished mission of Charlie, protect Christian freedom in South Korea, and warn a slumbering church that we must not be silent.
After all, the church isn&#8217;t a bystander in history, it&#8217;s the bulwark against tyranny. As Charlie urged, put Jesus first, but fight for the freedom to do so. Pastor Son languishes in a cell for preaching truth; let&#8217;s ensure his suffering ignites a global stand. South Korea, turn back from this persecution. The world is watching, and the God of justice will not be mocked.
Daniel Hayworth is the Lead Pastor of Vintage Church Harker Heights near Fort Hood, Texas, where he lives with his wife and four children. 
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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The Unfinished Fight: Charlie Kirk, A South Korean Pastor, And The Global War On Christians

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SEOUL (Reuters) &#8211; South Korea will send a chartered plane to Atlanta as early as Wednesday to bring back workers detained in a huge immigration raid last week on a car battery plant in the U.S. state of Georgia, a Korean Air spokesperson said on Tuesday.
President Lee Jae Myung said Seoul would negotiate with Washington to achieve a reasonable resolution to the situation based on the spirit of their alliance, adding at a cabinet meeting that he felt a &#8220;heavy responsibility&#8221; for the detained nationals.
A Korean Air Boeing 747-8i plane with 368 seats will fly from South Korea&#8217;s Incheon to Atlanta, according to the spokesperson.
During the U.S. immigration raid about 300 South Koreans were arrested along with 175 others at the site of the $4.3 billion Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solution project to build batteries for electric cars.
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun is in Washington to negotiate on points such as seeking assurances that the Koreans returned home will be allowed to re-enter the United States.
The raid &#8211; the largest single-site enforcement operation in the history of the Department of Homeland Security&#8217;s investigative operations &#8211; sent shockwaves through South Korea, a U.S. ally that has been trying to finalise a trade deal agreed with Washington in July.
A Realmeter opinion poll published on Tuesday showed that nearly 60% of South Koreans felt disappointed by what they viewed as excessive action by U.S. authorities in the raid, while about 30% regarded the action as unavoidable.
Two Japanese nationals and up to nine Chinese citizens were among the detainees, the Nikkei business daily reported.
James Rim, who heads the Korean-American Association of Southeast Georgia and runs guesthouses used by Korean workers near the Hyundai plant, said two of his residents had been detained after being found to be on a visa-waiver programme that prohibits employment in the country.
On Thursday evening after the raid they did not come back for dinner, Rim said, noting two other colleagues had made it back to the guesthouse after screening during the raid.
&#8220;I heard two of them saw an officer that didn&#8217;t let them go, while the other two managed to leave after talking to another officer,&#8221; said Rim.
Details on how U.S. immigration rules may have been breached have not been released by the authorities or companies involved, but South Korean lawmakers say some may have overstepped the boundaries of a 90-day visa-waiver programme or a B-1 temporary business visa.
Foreign Minister Cho said he would discuss with Washington creating a special work permit for Korean professionals.
Korean businesses have complained about what they consider strict U.S. limits on visas for skilled foreign workers, making it difficult for them to oversee the construction of factories or to train the local workforce.
According to workers, officials and lawyers, many South Korean workers were sent to the U.S. on questionable documents despite their misgivings and warnings about stricter U.S. immigration enforcement.
After the raid, Rim said some of the 20 subcontractors working at the plant and also staying at his guesthouse had returned to South Korea early.
&#8220;Not everyone, but some of the workers came here on a visa waiver,&#8221; Rim said, adding that this had long been a standard practice.
&#8220;It should have been done earlier but I think now is a good chance to give some kind of a special work permit to Koreans. Otherwise, it would be difficult to build factories only with a local workforce,&#8221; he said.
(Reporting by Ju-min Park and Jack Kim; Editing by Ed Davies and Hugh Lawson)

South Korea to send chartered plane to Atlanta to bring back workers detained in US

South Korea Sending Plane To Retrieve Workers Detained In Georgia Raid

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