Pyongyang

North Korea said on Monday it had developed a new control system for a multiple rocket launcher that would lead to a "qualitative change" in its defence capabilities.

North Korea's rubber-stamp parliament has voted to abolish laws on economic cooperation with the South, state media said Thursday, as relations between the two neighbours hit new lows.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said Wednesday that the North's "irrational" regime was likely to carry out multiple provocations, including cyberattacks and drone intrusions, ahead of the South's April election.

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.

North Korea said Friday that it had tested an "underwater nuclear weapon system" in response to joint naval exercises by Washington, Seoul and Tokyo that involved a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un urged his party to "accelerate" war preparations including its nuclear programme, state media said Thursday.

The comments came just a week after Kim warned Pyongyang would not hesitate to launch a nuclear attack if "provoked" with nukes.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned Pyongyang will not hesitate to launch a nuclear attack if "provoked with nukes", state media said Thursday, while Seoul and its allies called for "dialogue without preconditions".

South Korea, the United States and Japan on Tuesday activated a system to share real-time data on North Korean missile launches, Seoul's defence ministry said, as the three countries seek to bolster security cooperation against the nuclear-armed North.

North Korea has fired a long-range ballistic missile, the South Korean military said Wednesday, days after Pyongyang threatened to down US spy planes that violated its airspace.

Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points ever, with diplomacy stalled and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un calling for increased weapons development, including tactical nukes.

The North Korean government's notice did not mention COVID-19 but said Pyongyang residents had to stay indoors for the rest of the week and undergo temperature checks several times a day, South Korea's NK News reported, citing Reuters.