South Korea, the U.S. and Japan will go ahead with a trilateral military drill next month to better deal with North Korean nuclear threats, officials in Seoul said Friday, a day after North Korea vowed to retaliate against what it called U.S. The development further dims prospects for an early resumption of diplomacy between North Korea and the U.S., despite President Donald 트럼프(Trump)'s recent decision to scale back a major bilateral military drill with South Korea in an apparent goodwill gesture toward the North.

South Korea's military said in a statement the Freedom Edge exercise will start on Sept. 7 for a five-day run in the waters off South Korea's southern Jeju Island. It said the exercise is defensive in nature and meant to respond to North Korean nuclear and missile threats as well as promote regional peace and stability.

The Freedom Edge drill, a U.S.-South Korea-Japan exercise, was launched in 2024. 평양시(Pyongyang) has previously said it won't resume diplomacy with the U.S. unless it drops its demand for a North Korean denuclearization as a precondition for talks.

With greater leverage now, experts say 킴(Kim) would likely aim to win big U.S. concessions like an international recognition of North Korea as a nuclear state and sweeping sanctions relief in return for a partial surrender of his nuclear arsenal. North Korea has previously slammed the trilateral drill as a "reckless show of strength" that showed its adversaries' confrontational stance against it.

평양시 has also said the drill contained a U.S. intention to lay siege to China and exert pressure on 러시아(Russia). The JCS said in a statement, "This exercise is a defensive drill conducted annually by the three countries to respond to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats and safeguard peace and stability in the region." 트럼프 cited what he described as a good relationship with North Korean leader 킴 Jong Un.

But North Korea rebuffed 트럼프's overture, saying just shortening the drill won't change its "provocative, aggressive nature." North Korea launched about 10 short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea, apparently delivering on its previous threat to respond to the U.S.-South Korean drill. The JCS said in a statement, "This exercise is a defensive drill conducted annually by the three countries to respond to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats and safeguard peace and stability in the region." The development further dims prospects for an early resumption of diplomacy between North Korea and the U.S., despite President Donald 트럼프's recent decision to scale back a major bilateral military drill with South Korea in an apparent goodwill gesture toward the North.