Latest North Korean Missiles Used in Ukraine Possess Precision Improvements
Ukrainian defense intelligence revealed that North Korean ballistic missiles have recently struck targets in Ukraine with greater precision, marking an improvement from those used in the past year (Reuters)
Kim Jong Un Calls for Increase in North Korea’s Weapons-Grade Nuclear Material Supplies
The North Korean leader called for the strengthening of the country’s nuclear arsenal by the end of 2025, adding that the country faces “the world’s most unstable security situation” (Reuters)
Pyongyang Tests Several Cruise Missiles
North Korea’s foreign ministry criticized recent joint military drills between the United States and South Korea; Trump said that he expects to engage with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (Kyodo)
Pyongyang Fires Missiles Toward Its Eastern Waters in Second Such Test Launch
South Korea’s military called it a “clear provocation” ahead of Trump’s return to office this year (AP)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said at a year-end political conference that he would implement the “toughest anti-U.S. counteraction” (Kyodo)
In Seoul, Blinken Assures Confidence in South Korean Democracy
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met separately with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul in Seoul and an opposition member, affirming the bilateral relationship is “bigger than any one leader” (NYT)
As the visit was taking place, North Korea test-fired an apparent ballistic missile off its east coast, South Korea’s military said (BBC)
Technocrat Han Duck-soo Becomes South Korea’s Acting President After Impeachment
Han spoke with U.S. President Joe Biden to affirm the U.S.-South Korea alliance as part of efforts to reassure allies and financial markets following the recent political turbulence; he also convened his cabinet and pledged to maintain military readiness to prevent any national security breaches (Reuters)
Yoon had strengthened the trilateral security relationship between South Korea, Japan, and the United States (VOA)
On Saturday, Japan’s defense minister said that trilateral cooperation was important given the “severe” regional security environment (Yomiuri Shimbun)
South Korean Police Say North Korean Hackers Were Behind 2019 Crypto Heist
Hackers linked to North Korea’s intelligence agency were responsible for the theft of what was then $41.5 million worth of cryptocurrency assets, South Korean police said; the U.S. FBI cooperated in the probe, which was the first time North Korea had been pinned as the source of such an attack in South Korea (Reuters)
Russia Has Deployed Almost Fifty Thousand Troops to Kursk Region Where Ukraine Holds Territory
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has previously said thousands of those troops fighting for Russia in Kursk are North Korean soldiers (CNN)
Pyongyang and Moscow ratified their mutual defense treaty in recent days (AP)
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol Congratulates President-Elect Trump on Phone Call
The leaders discussed Seoul’s security and economic partnerships with Washington, including how to respond to North Korea’s military cooperation with Russia (Reuters)
Ukraine’s Military Says It Fought North Korean Troops in Russia’s Kursk Region
While the U.S. Defense Department said it could not immediately corroborate reports that North Korean troops had engaged in combat, Group of Seven (G7) countries as well as Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea said today that they condemned the increased military cooperation between Russia and North Korea “in the strongest possible terms” and would coordinate a response (Bloomberg, Reuters,Reuters)
United States Flew B-1B Long-Range Bomber in Drill With Japan and South Korea Near Korean Peninsula
The drill was in response to North Korea’s missile test last week; it’s the fourth such flight this year for the bomber (AP)
Washington Warns North Korean Troops Are Approaching Ukraine Border
As many as eight thousand North Korean troops are in the Russian border region of Kursk, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said yesterday; he added that Washington and Seoul agreed that China should “do more” to curb North Korea’s efforts to aid Russia (Nikkei)
U.S. officials have assessed that China is uneasy about North Korea’s strengthening security partnership with Russia and State Department officials have raised the issue with Beijing in recent days, the New York Times reported (NYT)
North Korea Test-Fires ICBM After U.S. Warnings Over Its Troops in Russia
Pyongyang fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) today that flew for eighty-six minutes before falling into waters west of Japan, the Japanese Defense Ministry said; it was the longest-ever flight time recorded for a North Korean missile, by Tokyo’s count (Nikkei)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the launch aimed to inform unspecified rivals of his country’s “counteraction will;” it came hours after a Washington meeting in which U.S. and South Korean defense leaders publicly denounced North Korean troop deployments in Russia and days before the U.S. presidential election (FT)
Seoul’s defense officials had warned Washington that Pyongyang was gearing up for an ICBM test to attract U.S. attention ahead of its high-stakes vote (NPR)
Japan’s defense minister called the launch “totally unacceptable,” a South Korean military spokesperson said it was an “illicit and reckless provocation” (Japan News;Yonhap)
A White House spokesperson said it “needlessly” raised tensions (The Hill)
Following North Korea’s launch, its neighbor South Korea announced a new package of sanctions aimed at hampering North Korea’s solid fuel missile development (Reuters)
North Korea’s Top Envoy Visits Russia Amid Reports of Troop Surge
North Korea’s foreign minister left for a trip to Russia that comes on the heels of multiple countries’ warnings of North Korean troop activity in the country (ABC)
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was the latest to issue such a warning (BBC)
The U.S. Department of Defense said that if North Korea joins Russia’s fight in Ukraine, it will put no new limits on Ukraine’s use of U.S. weapons (Reuters)
U.S. Says North Korea Sent Troops to Russia
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed today that North Korea has dispatched its soldiers to Russia, calling the situation a “very serious” escalation; U.S. intelligence officials say that none of the North Korean fighters have reached Ukraine yet (NYT)
While he said their function was still “left to be seen,” he added that if they become co-belligerents in the war in Ukraine it would produce consequences, including in the Indo-Pacific (WaPo)
North Korea Amends Constitution, Labels South a ‘Hostile State’
State media announced the addendum today, confirming that the new constitution reflects the abandonment of reunification (Reuters)
Some analysts say the move is largely symbolic; Pyongyang has been using the term toward Seoul since it severed the inter-Korean military agreement at the end of 2023 (BBC)
North Korea Starts Demolition of Cross-Border Roads, Railways With South KoreaNorth Korea Starts Demolition of Cross-Border Roads, Railways With South Korea
The move is part of a larger effort to abandon reunification with South Korea, a goal that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un announced earlier this year; South Korea called the North’s actions to blow up the rail lines “deplorable” and “regressive behavior” and fired warning shots in response (Reuters)
North Korea Is Sending Troops to Russia, Says Zelenskyy
In a national address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asserted that North Korea’s and Russia’s military relationship is growing beyond the “transfer of weapons” to the “transfer of people” (Reuters)
While he did not specify details, South Korean and Ukrainian officials raised concern over North Korean-Russian military training and cooperation last week; a Kremlin spokesperson dismissed the reports as “fake” (WaPo)
South Korea Accused of Flying Drones Over Pyongyang
North Korea has threatened to respond to the presence of South Korean drones carrying anti-North Korean propaganda pamphlets with force, claiming that the alleged flights were “a dangerous provocation” that, if repeated, could warrant “all means of attack” (AP)
North Korea’s Military Blocking Roads and Rail Lines Connecting it to South Korea
State media reported the military will also “fortify” parts of the North Korean side with new defense installations; Pyongyang said it was responding to South Korean and U.S. military movements in the region and that it sent a phone message to the U.S. military in Seoul to prevent misunderstandings about its new actions (Yonhap)
Seoul, Washington Reach Deal on Cost-Sharing for U.S. Troops in South Korea
As part of the five-year deal, South Korea will continue to increase its portion of the sharing cost to host some 28,500 U.S. personnel in South Korea; its contribution will rise 8.3 percent in 2026 and in the following three years, rise at a rate based on the consumer price index (Reuters)
The deal was concluded early in what was seen as an effort to wrap it up before the U.S. election (CNN)
North Korea Releases Rare Photos of Uranium-Enrichment Facility
The images released today show leader Kim Jong Un visiting what Korean state media said was a uranium enrichment plant at an unspecified location; it was not immediately clear to experts that Pyongyang was showing off a previously-unknown capability in the photo, but it comes amid broader nuclear saber-rattling by North Korea (AP)
North Korea’s nuclear weapons program is banned by several UN Security Council resolutions, but Pyongyang has stepped up enrichment efforts under Kim; South Korean officials have warned that North Korea may be preparing for a nuclear weapons test around the time of the U.S. election in November, with the last such test held in 2017 (FT)
The photo release comes as senior Russian security official Sergei Shoigu held talks on “a wide range of issues” in Pyongyang today, Russian state media reported; the two countries have deepened their ties since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, with Russian President Vladimir Putin visiting North Korea in June (Reuters)
North Korea Fires Missiles Off East Coast
Today’s test launch of multiple short-range ballistic missiles was the first such public launch in more than two months, South Korea’s military said; in a speech on Monday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he would work to make nuclear forces ready for combat against the United States and its allies (AP)
North Korean Soldier Crosses Over to South Korea
The number of North Korean soldiers fleeing to their neighbor has risen since Pyongyang eased COVID-19 border controls, and with today’s defection, now total 105 in the first half of this year, up from the same period last year; relations between the two countries are at one of their worst points in years (AFP, Yonhap)
South Korean President Offers New Channel for Talks With North Korea
President Yoon Suk Yeol proposed new dialogue for “freedom-based unification” and humanitarian aid to North Korea in a speech today (Nikkei)
Tensions between the two countries have risen this year, with Pyongyang abolishing laws for economic cooperation with Seoul and displaying missile launchers to deploy at the border (Bloomberg)