Kim Jong Un

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has hailed the test launch of a new strategic cruise missile from a submarine as a key moment in building the nation's naval power, state media said Monday.

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.

China's vice foreign minister met with North Korea's top diplomats in Pyongyang on Friday, state media said, as the nuclear-armed state has accelerated its weapons testing and threats toward Seoul in recent months.

China's vice foreign minister was in Pyongyang on Friday for a meeting with his North Korean counterpart.

China and Russia are North Korea's traditional allies, and Washington warned last year that military ties between Pyongyang and Moscow were "growing and dangerous".

The United States has called on Beijing — the North's biggest economic benefactor — to restrain Pyongyang.

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.

Kim Jong Un threatened South Korea with war if "even 0.001 mm" of the North's territory is violated, as Pyongyang abolished agencies that oversaw cooperation and reunification, state media said Tuesday.

North Korea has provided Russia with ballistic missiles and missile launchers that were used in recent attacks on Ukraine in a major escalation of support for Moscow, the White House said Thursday.

Russia is also looking to obtain missiles from its ally Iran as it runs short of arms nearly two years into President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, it said.

North Korea fired more than 200 artillery shells near two South Korean islands on Friday, Seoul's defence ministry said, warning the actions threatened peace and it would respond.

Residents on the two islands were ordered to evacuate, in one of the most serious military escalations between the two Koreas since the North fired a barrage of shells at one of the islands in 2010.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told his top military officers to use maximum force against South Korea and the United States if they initiate a military confrontation, state media reported Monday.

Seoul and Washington have ramped up defence cooperation in the face of a record-breaking series of weapons tests by Pyongyang over the past year.