South Korea and the United States commenced their annual large-scale joint military exercise, Ulchi Freedom Shield 2025, on August 18, involving 21,000 troops, Apache helicopters, cyber defense operations, and civil defense drills over 11 days. These drills are intended to address threats from North Korea but have been characterized by Pyongyang as invasion rehearsals and provocations. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un condemned the exercises, calling them an "obvious expression of their will to provoke war" and a threat to regional peace and security. During an inspection of his most advanced warship, Kim called for a "rapid expansion" of North Korea's nuclear weapons program and naval capabilities in response to the drills. His sister, Kim Yo Jong, further escalated tensions by rejecting South Korea as a diplomatic partner, accusing Seoul of having a "dual personality" regarding the military exercises and criticizing South Korean President Lee's peace overtures. The joint drills and North Korea's subsequent rhetoric mark a notable escalation in military and diplomatic tensions on the Korean Peninsula.