Foreign relations of North Korea

In a move that has raised alarms across the international community, North Korea launched several cruise missiles from its west coast towards the Yellow Sea on Wednesday morning. The Joint Chiefs of Staff in South Korea reported the missile launch, emphasizing that the details are under close analysis by intelligence authorities in both South Korea and the United States.

North Korea fired several cruise missiles towards the Yellow Sea on Wednesday, Seoul's military said, the latest in a series of tension-raising moves by the nuclear-armed state.

Pyongyang has accelerated weapons testing in the new year, including tests of what it called an "underwater nuclear weapon system" and a solid-fuelled hypersonic ballistic missile.

North Korea has announced the successful testing of its "underwater nuclear weapons system," specifically a nuclear-armed underwater drone known as the Haeil-5-23 system, as reported by the BBC. While North Korea has previously mentioned tests of this system, the weapon's existence has not been independently verified.

Bulgaria's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mariya Gabriel, alongside 46 foreign ministers, have collectively denounced the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) export of ballistic missiles to Russia.

South Korea has sanctioned the head of North Korea's intelligence agency over illicit cyber activities following Pyongyang's recent launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, Seoul's Foreign Ministry said yesterday.

Recent reports from the UN nuclear watchdog and independent experts suggest that North Korea has initiated operations at a new reactor within the Yongbyon nuclear complex. This reactor could potentially produce plutonium, fueling concerns about the nation's nuclear weapons program, according to Reuters.

In an apparent protest over a regular South Korea-US combined military exercise to begin this week, North Korea fired two "strategic cruise missiles" from a submarine in waters off its east coast over the weekend, state media said on Monday, reported Yonhap News Agency.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stressed his country will never abandon the nuclear weapons it needs to counter the United States, which he accused of pushing to weaken the North's defenses and eventually collapse his government, state media said Friday.

Russia will deepen its relations with North Korea by expanding the scope of bilateral ties.

This, according to the Korean Central Telegraph Agency (cited by world and Russian media), was communicated by Russian President Vladimir Putin to the leader of the East Asian country, Kim Jong-un, in a letter on the occasion of its liberation day.

President Joe Biden's special envoy for North Korea said Friday the United States is "preparing for all contingencies" in close coordination with its South Korean and Japanese allies as it monitors North Korean arrangements for a possible nuclear test explosion that outside officials say could be imminent.