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North Korea
North Korea unveiled for the first time a nuclear-powered submarine under construction, a weapons system that can pose a major security threat to South Korea and the US. State media on Saturday released photos showing what it called a nuclear-powered strategic guided missile submarine, as it reported leader Kim Jong Un's visits to major shipyards where warships are built. The Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA, didn't provide details on the submarine, but said Kim was briefed on its construction. The naval vessel appears to be a 6,000-ton-class or 7,000-ton-class one which can carry about 10 missiles, said Moon Keun-sik, a South Korean submarine expert who teaches at Seoul's Hanyang University. He said the use of the term the strategic guided missiles meant it would carry nuclear-capable weapons. It would be absolutely threatening to us and the US, Moon said. A nuclear-powered submarine was among a long wishlist of sophisticated weaponry that Kim vowed to introduce during a major
North Korea said Friday it had test-fired strategic cruise missiles to demonstrate its nuclear counter-attack capability, days after it vowed to respond to what it called escalating U.S.-led hostilities since the start of the Trump administration. The official Korean Central News Agency said leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the missile tests off the country's west coast Wednesday. They were the North's fourth missile launch event this year and the second of President Donald Trump's second term. The launches were designed to inform the enemies, who are seriously violating our security environment and fostering and escalating the confrontation environment, of the North Korean military's counterattack capability and the readiness of its nuclear operations, KCNA said. Kim expressed satisfaction over the results of the drills and said the military must be battle-ready and prepared to use its nuclear weapons, the report said. Trump has said he would reach out to Kim again after they met at thr
North Korea appears to have deployed additional troops to support Russia's war against Ukraine, South Korea's spy agency said on Thursday, local media reported.Seoul's National Intelligence Service (NIS) in a press noted said that that number of recently deployed troops is being assessed as per a report in South Korean news agency Yonhap.The assessment follows a news report that between 1,000 and 3,000 North Korean troops were newly transported to Kursk via Russian cargo ships and military airplanes between January and February this year in the second round of such troop deployment, the Yonhap reported.Seoul's spy agency had earlier assessed that North Korean troops deployed to Russia had been absent from combat in the Kursk region since mid-January, likely due to heavy casualties among them. The NIS estimated that about 300 were killed and some 2,700 others were injured.In the beginning of this month Colonel Oleksandr, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian military's Special Operations ..
North Korea on Tuesday criticised the United States and Asian neighbours for pursuing the absurd goal of denuclearising the North and said it will push to expand its nuclear forces under the direction of its authoritarian leader Kim Jong Un. The statement by Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry came after the top diplomats of the US, South Korea and Japan met at a security conference in Germany and reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening military cooperation and reinforcing an international sanctions regime to counter Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions. The North Korean ministry accused the US of trying to realise an outdated and absurd plan of denuclearising the North and warned of overwhelming and decisive counteraction against its rivals if it perceives its security is under threat. It said the North will consistently adhere to the new line of bolstering the nuclear force established by Kim and thoroughly deter the US and its vassal forces from threats and blackmail against the North's .
North Korea is demolishing a South Korea-built property that had been used to host reunions of families separated during the 1950-53 Korean War, the South's government said Thursday, as it continues to eliminate symbols of engagement between the war-divided rivals. Relations between the Koreas are at their worst in years, with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continuing to flaunt his expanding nuclear weapons program and declaring to abandon long-standing goals of inter-Korean reconciliation, while describing the South as a permanent enemy. The 12-story building at the North's scenic Diamond Mountain resort, which has 206 rooms and banquet facilities for hosting meetings, had been used for family reunions since 2009. The Koreas last held a family reunion in 2018, after Kim initiated diplomacy with Seoul and Washington in an effort to leverage his nuclear program for economic benefits. Negotiations derailed in 2019 after a failed summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump, who w
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said an elevated US security partnership with South Korea and Japan poses a grave threat to his country and vowed to further bolster his nuclear weapons program, state media reported Sunday. Kim has previously made similar warnings, but his latest statement implies again that the North Korean leader won't likely embrace President Donald Trump's overture to meet him and revive diplomacy anytime soon. In a speech marking the 77th founding anniversary of the Korean People's Army on Saturday, Kim said the US-Japan-South Korea trilateral security partnership established under a US plot to form a NATO-like regional military bloc is inviting military imbalance on the Korean Peninsula and raising a grave challenge to the security environment of our state, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. Referring to a series of new plans for rapidly bolstering all deterrence including nuclear forces, he clarified once again the unshakable policy of more
In its first direct criticism of the Trump administration, North Korea lashed out at US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for calling it a rogue state and warned Monday that such coarse and nonsensical remarks will never contribute to US interests. The statement is the latest in a series of North Korean signals that it will maintain its tough stance on the U.S. for now, though Trump has said he's intent on reaching out to its leader Kim Jong Un to revive diplomacy. The hostile words and deeds of the person who is in charge of the US foreign policy served as an occasion of confirming once again the US hostile policy toward the DPRK which remains unchanged, the Foreign Ministry said, using the acronym of the country's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Rubio's coarse and nonsensical remarks only show directly the incorrect view of the new U.S. administration on the DPRK and will never help promote the US interests as he wishes, it said. The statement took issue wi
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected a facility that produces nuclear material and called for bolstering the country's nuclear fighting capability, state media reported Wednesday, as the North looks to increase pressure on the United States following the inauguration of President Donald Trump. Kim's visit suggests a continued emphasis on an expansion of North Korea's nuclear arsenal, though Trump has said he's willing to talk to Kim again to revive diplomacy. Many analysts view North Korean weapons moves as part of a strategy to win sanctions relief and political concessions from the United States. The official Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim visited the nuclear-material production base and the Nuclear Weapons Institute. It didn't say where those facilities are located, but North Korean photos of Kim's visit indicated that he likely visited a uranium-enrichment facility that he went to last September. That visit was North Korea's first disclosure of a ...
North Korea said Sunday it tested a cruise missile system, its third known weapons display this year, and vowed "the toughest" response to what it called the escalation of US-South Korean military drills that target the North. The moves suggested North Korea will likely maintain its run of weapons tests and its confrontational stance against the U.S. for now, even though President Donald Trump said he intends to reach out to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The official Korean Central News Agency said Kim observed the test of sea-to-surface strategic cruise guided weapons on Saturday. The term strategic implies the missiles are nuclear-capable. KCNA said the missiles hit their targets after travelling 1,500-kilometer (932-mile) -long elliptical and figure-eight-shaped flight patterns, but that couldn't be independently verified. KCNA cited Kim as saying that North Korea's war deterrence capabilities are being perfected more thoroughly and affirming that his country will make strenu
North Korea on Tuesday test-fired at least one unidentified projectile toward its eastern waters, South Korea's military said, as it continued its weapons demonstrations ahead of Donald Trump's return to the White House. South Korea's joint chiefs of staff didn't immediately confirm whether the test involved a ballistic missile or another type of weapon. It wasn't immediately clear how far the weapon flew. It was North Korea's second launch event of 2025, following a ballistic launch last week. North Korea said the January 6 test was a new hypersonic intermediate-range missile designed to strike remote targets in the Pacific as leader Kim Jong Un vowed to further expand his collection of nuclear-capable weapons to counter rival nations. North Korea is coming off a torrid year in weapons testing. The systems it demonstrated in 2024 included solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles designed to strike the US mainland and various shorter-range missiles designed to overwhelm missi
South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers on Monday that two North Korean soldiers who were captured by Ukrainian forces while fighting alongside Russian forces in Russia's Kursk border region haven't expressed a desire to seek asylum in South Korea. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on the social media platform X that he's willing to hand over the soldiers to North Korea if the country's authoritarian leader, Kim Jong Un, arranges for an exchange with Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russia. Zelenskyy added that there may be other options for North Korean soldiers who do not wish to return home, and a video released by his government indicated that at least one of the captured soldiers expressed a desire to remain in Ukraine. In a closed-door briefing at South Korea's National Assembly, the National Intelligence Service confirmed its participation in the questioning of the North Korean soldiers by Ukrainian authorities. The agency said the soldiers haven't expressed a request
For weeks, Ukrainian troops braced for an unfamiliar enemy: North Korean soldiers sent to bolster Moscow's forces after Ukraine launched a lightning-fast incursion and seized territory in Russia's Kursk region over the summer. Their arrival marked a new and alarming phase in the war. And while initially inexperienced on the battlefield, North Korean troops have adapted quickly a development that could have far-reaching consequences as they gain combat knowledge in the war against Ukraine. Unlike the Russian troops Ukraine has been battling for nearly three years, Kyiv's forces were uncertain about what to expect from this new adversary, drawn into the war after Moscow and Pyongyang signed an agreement pledging military assistance using all means if either were attacked. One Ukrainian soldier who has witnessed North Koreans in battle described them as disciplined and highly methodical, saying they were more professional than their Russian counterparts. The soldier spoke to The ...