North Korea

North Korea tests ballistic missiles with cluster bombs amid defence push

North Korea said Monday it test-launched ballistic missiles with cluster bomb warheads in the second such test this month, likely underscoring its push to expand its capabilities to penetrate US and South Korean defences. The report by the North's official Korean Central News Agency appeared to refer to the multiple ballistic missile launches South Korea, Japan and the US detected Sunday off North Korea's east coast. KCNA photos showed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his teenage daughter, both wearing black leather jackets, watching from a coastal observation point as a projectile soared over the water, trailing gray smoke. South Korea's spy service recently assessed that the daughter, reportedly named Kim Ju Ae, could be considered Kim's heir. Kim oversaw the launches of five upgraded surface-to-surface Hwasong-11 Ra ballistic missiles with cluster bomb warheads and fragmentation mine warheads, KCNA said. The missiles struck an island target and Kim expressed satisfaction over

Japan, South Korea on high alert after North Korea fires multiple missiles

The Japanese government activated its top-tier crisis management protocols to ensure public safety and regional stability in the face of the renewed provocation

North Korea's Kim Jong Un supervises missile tests from his naval destroyer

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised more missile tests from his prized new warship over the weekend, state media said Tuesday, as he pledged to boost the navy's operational capabilities with his growing collection of nuclear-capable weapons. North Korea's official newspaper Rodong Sinmun said Kim on Sunday observed the launches of two strategic cruise missiles and three anti-ship missiles from his 5,000-ton-class destroyer, the Choe Hyon, first unveiled in April 2025. The cruise missiles flew for more than two hours and the anti-ship missiles for more than 30 minutes along pre-set trajectories over the country's western seas before accurately striking their targets, the newspaper said. The Korean Central News Agency, another state outlet, published photos of Kim and other senior officials watching from a pier as a projectile trailed gray smoke while arcing away from the warship. Kim had also supervised two rounds of missile tests from the Choe Hyon last month while vowing to

Kim Jong Un backs China's push for multipolar world, calls for deeper ties

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has voiced support for China's push to build a "multipolar world" and called for deeper ties between the traditional allies during a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, state media said on Saturday. During the meeting on Friday, Kim said his government will fully support Chinese efforts to achieve territorial integrity based on its "one-China principle", a reference to Beijing's official position that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory, according to North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency. Kim also outlined North Korea's position on unspecified regional and international issues of "mutual concern" and said sustained development of ties between the two countries has become more crucial in the current geopolitical environment, KCNA said. Wang, on a two-day trip to North Korea, said the countries' relations were entering a "new phase" following a summit last year between Kim and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Embracin

North Korea tests latest weapons, missiles as world focuses on Iran

KCNA said tests showed tactical ballistic missiles with cluster warheads could "reduce to ashes" targets spanning 6.5-7 hectares with high-density impact

North Korea fires missiles, rejects Seoul's hopes for warmer ties

North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea Wednesday in its second launch event in two days, South Korea's military said, hours after a senior North Korean official released crude insults against Seoul's hopes for warmer relations. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles lifted off from North Korea's eastern coastal Wonsan area and flew about 240 kilometers (150 miles) each in a direction toward the North's eastern waters. It said South Korea maintains a readiness to repel any provocations by North Korea under a solid military alliance with the United States. Seoul later said North Korea fired an additional ballistic missile toward its eastern waters without giving further details. The South Korean military said it had also detected the launch of an unidentified projectile around North Korea's capital region Tuesday. It said South Korean and US intelligence authorities were analyzing details of Tuesday's launch. South Korean media reported

North Korea fires projectile after South Korean President's apology

The launch took place days after a North Korean statement conveyed leader Kim Jong Un's rare praise for Lee in response to his apology over the drones

China resumes direct flights to North Korea after 6 yrs; trains restart too

China's flag carrier resumed direct flights between Beijing and North Korea's capital of Pyongyang on Monday not long after the restoration of passenger train services between the capitals. The Air China flight was welcomed by the Chinese ambassador to North Korea, Wang Yajun, and other diplomats, according to Chinese state media. Passenger train service from China to North Korea had resumed March 12. Flights and passenger trains to North Korea had been suspended since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. North Korean carrier Air Koryo resumed flights between the capitals in 2023. North Korea banned all foreign tourists during the pandemic but has started easing the restrictions, with a Russian tour group entering the country in 2024. Chinese tour groups had made up 90 per cent of all visitors to North Korea prior to the ban, and the delay on resuming Chinese tours surprised observers. China is Pyongyang's biggest trading partner and major ally, but Beijing has expres

North Korea conducts test for missile capable of targeting US mainland

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observed a test of a high-thrust, solid-fuel engine test and hailed it as a development to boost the country's strategic military capability, state media reported Sunday. The test likely indicates Kim is intent on enlarging and modernising an arsenal of missiles capable of reaching the United States mainland. The report on Sunday from Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) came days after Kim delivered a speech at North Korea's Parliament pledging to irreversibly cement his country's status as a nuclear power and accusing the US of global "state terrorism and aggression," in an apparent reference to the war in the Middle East. Kim watched the ground jet test of the newly upgraded engine using a composite carbon fibre material, according to the KCNA, which reported the engine's maximum trust is 2,500 kilotons, up from about 1,971 kilotons reported in a similar solid fuel engine test in September. A push to increase the engine power is likely associated wit

Kim vows to cement North Korea's nuclear status, calls South 'most hostile'

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has pledged to irreversibly cement his country's status as a nuclear power while maintaining a hard-line stance toward South Korea, which he called "most hostile", state media said Tuesday. In a speech Monday to Pyongyang's rubber-stamp parliament, Kim accused the United States of global "state terrorism and aggression" in an apparent reference to the war in the Middle East, and said the North will play a more forceful role in a united front against Washington amid rising anti-American sentiment. But Kim didn't call out US President Donald Trump by name and said whether his adversaries "choose confrontation or peaceful coexistence is up to them, and we are prepared to respond to any choice". His comments largely aligned with his statements at last month's ruling Workers' Party Congress, where he vilified Seoul but left open the door for dialogue with the Trump administration, urging Washington to drop its demands for the North's nuclear disarmament as

Kim Jong Un sweeps North Korea parliamentary polls with 99.93% mandate

With a reported turnout of 99.99 per cent, the polls were conducted on March 15 to select deputies for the 15th Supreme People's Assembly

North Korean leader observes test of rocket launch systems with daughter

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, accompanied by his teenage daughter, observed a live-fire test of multiple rocket launch systems, state media reported Sunday, a likely response to ongoing US-South Korean military training that North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal. The official Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim watched the strike drill involving twelve 600mm-calibre, ultraprecision rocket launchers off North Korea's east coast on Saturday. South Korea's military said Saturday it detected about 10 ballistic missiles fired from North Korea's capital region toward the eastern sea. South Korea's national security council called the launches a provocation that violated UN Security Council resolutions that bans any ballistic activities by North Korea. KCNA cited Kim as saying that the drill would expose enemies within the 420-kilometer (260-mile) striking range, to "uneasiness" and give them "a deep understanding of the destructive power of tactical nuclear weapon," KCNA

Air China to resume flights to North Korea from March 30 after Covid halt

Air China will resume flights flying between Beijing and North Korea from March 30, the airline's website said Saturday, after passenger train services running between the two nations restarted earlier this week. According to the website of the stated-owned airline, flights from China's capital to Pyongyang, North Korea's capital will run every Monday until May 18, but would scale down to two Mondays in June. In 2020 with the start of the coronavirus pandemic, North Korea banned tourists, jetted out diplomats and severely curtailed border traffic in one of the world's most draconian COVID-19 restrictions. Two years later, Pyongyang started slowly easing curbs and reopening its borders. North Korean Air Koryo resumed flights between the two nations' capitals in 2023. In February 2024, North Korea accepted some Russian tourists for sightseeing visits, the first foreign nationals to visit the country. That development surprised many observers who thought the first post-pandemic tour

North Korea fires 10 missiles toward sea in show of force, says Seoul

South Korea's military said Saturday it detected North Korea firing at least one projectile toward its eastern sea. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff didn't immediately say whether the weapon was ballistic or how far it flew. The launch came as the United States and South Korea conduct their annual springtime joint military exercises. The North has long described the allies' drills as invasion rehearsals and often uses them as a pretext to dial up its own military demonstrations or weapons testing.

North Korea's Kim vows more nuclear weapons but opens door for US talks

Kim Jong Un laid out plans for weapons development, vowing to build stronger ground-based and underwater intercontinental ballistic missiles, and urged US to drop its hostile policy against Pyongyang

North Korea's Kim Jong Un reelected as chief of ruling Workers' Party

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was reelected to the top post of the ruling Workers' Party, with delegates crediting him for bolstering the country's nuclear arsenal and strengthening its regional standing, state media reported Monday. The report from the party congress, where Kim is expected to outline his key political and military goals for the next five years, suggests he will double down on accelerating a military nuclear program already equipped with missiles capable of threatening Asian US allies and the American mainland. The congress, which began last Thursday, comes as Kim grows increasingly assertive in regional politics, following an aggressive expansion of his nuclear arsenal and closer ties with Russia forged through joint war efforts in Ukraine, which have deepened his standoffs with Washington and Seoul. Analysts say Kim will likely use the meeting to unveil new military goals, including strengthening conventional forces and integrating them with nuclear capabilities

North Korea's Kim deploys 50 new missile launchers ahead of party congress

North Korea said Thursday leader Kim Jong Un held a ceremony to unveil the deployment of 50 new launch vehicles for nuclear-capable short-range missiles threatening rival South Korea as he flaunted his expanding military capabilities ahead of a major ruling party congress. In a separate statement, Kim's sister, who is a key foreign policy official acknowledged a South Korean minister's apology regarding alleged civilian drone incursions, but said the North is bolstering border security against the "enemy" South. North Korea has suspended nearly all talks and cooperation with the South since 2019, when Kim's nuclear diplomacy with U.S. President Donald Trump derailed over US-led sanctions. Relations worsened in recent years as Kim discarded the North's long-standing goal of peaceful reunification and declared a hostile "two-state" system on the Korean Peninsula, a stance he may further institutionalize in the Workers' Party's constitution during the upcoming congress. State media ...

S Korea's drone regret sensible, but insufficient: N Korean leader's sister

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Friday it was "sensible" for a South Korean government official to express regret for alleged civilian drone flights over North Korea but warned of counterattacks if they recur. The statement by Kim Yo Jong came after South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young on Tuesday expressed "deep regret" over the alleged flights and stressed that Seoul's liberal government seeks "mutual recognition and peaceful coexistence" between the war-divided rivals. North Korea threatened retaliation last month after accusing South Korea of launching a surveillance drone flight in September and again in January. The South Korean government has denied operating any drones during the times specified by North Korea but law enforcement authorities are investigating three civilians suspected of flying drones into the North from border areas. The development threatens to further dampen prospects for a push by Seoul to resume long-stalled tal

Kim likely to issue major policy goals at North Korea party congress in Feb

North Korea will convene a major political conference later this month, the country's state media said Sunday, where leader Kim Jong Un is expected to outline his domestic and foreign policies for the next five years. The ruling Workers' Party congress, which Kim previously held in 2016 and 2021, comes after years of accelerated nuclear and missile development and deepening ties with Moscow over the war in Ukraine that have increased his standoffs with the United States and South Korea. North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said the party's political bureau met under Kim's supervision and decided the congress would be held in late February. State media did not immediately specify a date or release agenda details. The congress will likely continue for days as a highly choreographed display of Kim's authoritarian leadership. In recent weeks, Kim has inspected weapons tests and toured military sites and economic projects as state media highlighted his purported achievements

North Korea to unveil new nuclear plans at upcoming ruling party congress

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country will unveil plans to further bolster its nuclear programme at the upcoming ruling party congress, as he observed the North's latest weapons launch, state media reported Wednesday. The report came a day after South Korea and Japan said they detected multiple ballistic missiles fired from North Korea, the country's first weapons launches in about three weeks. The Korean Central News Agency said North Korea performed a live-fire drill of an upgraded large-caliber multiple rocket launcher system in the presence of Kim on Tuesday. It quoted Kim as saying the test launch was meant to enhance the effectiveness of the country's "strategic deterrent," a term used to describe its nuclear weapons capability. KCNA said the launcher system's mobility and strike accuracy have been improved. Experts say North Korea's large-sized rocket launchers blur the boundaries between artillery systems and ballistic missiles because they can create their own .