Theme: North Korea

A meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during Trump’s November trip to Asia appears increasingly unlikely after the Republican election defeat, according to analysts. Kim Yo Jong signaled on Wednesday that Pyongyang had “no need to sit face to face with such unreliable and hostile persons.” A possible encounter had been floated around the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, set for November 18 and 19. Experts note that Democratic control of Congress could make it harder for South Korea to acquire nuclear-powered submarines and limit a Trump deal with the North.

North Korea test-fired a newly designed air-defense missile system and staged a cruise missile strike drill on Wednesday, state media KCNA said. The test confirmed the technical specifications and reliability of the new materials and multiple guidance modes used by the missile, as well as the system’s ability to identify and track targets. A sub-unit of the country’s long-range strategic cruise missile unit in the east struck a virtual airport target in the drill. The KCNA report appeared to confirm a South Korean Defense Ministry statement that Pyongyang fired multiple missiles toward the sea from the Sondok area on the east coast, the fourth North Korean weapons launch in a month.

Kim Jong-un inspected the Nampho Shipyard and called for a rapid buildup of naval combat power to counter “hostile acts of the enemies,” according to North Korean state media. The inspection was reported on Wednesday. Kim saw a new warship under construction and described it as “incomparably huge and intimidating” compared with the destroyer built last year. Shin Jong-woo, secretary-general of the Korea Defense and Security Forum, said North Korea appeared to have unveiled for the first time the construction site of a new vessel believed to be a 10,000-ton cruiser.

North Korea fired multiple missiles on Wednesday toward the sea off its east coast, marking Pyongyang’s fourth such weapons launch in a month, from the Sondok area, an eastern coastal region. Multiple missiles were launched from Sondok in South Hamgyong Province, with no information on the type or exact launch time, and there will be no customary third update with maximum altitude and range, while South Korean and US authorities analyze the specifications, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) confirmed.

Kim Jong-un visited the Nampho shipyard and called for a rapid buildup of naval surface and submarine power to counter “hostile acts of the enemies,” according to state media. He inspected a new warship under construction, which he described as “incomparably larger and more intimidating” than the destroyer built last year, and a KCNA photo suggests the vessel may be in the 10,000-ton class that Kim had mentioned in earlier plans. He also called for automating production and building a second ground dock so ships can be built and repaired at the same time.

Kim Yo-jong, the North Korean leader’s sister, denied that North Korea was behind the record $6.3 billion hack of the Binance exchange and called the accusation “absurd rhetoric.” The FBI, the Secret Service and US cyber analysts say North Korea orchestrated the attack and describe it as the largest in history. According to Reuters, in a text republished by Internazionale, the statement was carried by the state-run KCNA agency, and Kim said there was no need to sit down with “such unreliable and hostile persons,” while Elliptic counted about $2.85 billion frozen or seized from funds that moved through roughly 12,000 wallets and 40,000 transactions across 11 blockchains.

North Korea launched an unidentified projectile toward the East Sea on Wednesday, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Joint Chiefs did not immediately disclose the number of projectiles, their flight distances or other specifications. If confirmed as ballistic, it would be the North’s 19th such launch of the year, following the firing of more than 10 short-range ballistic missiles from the Wonsan area on October 29.

Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, denied the FBI’s accusation that North Korea was responsible for the theft of more than $6 billion in crypto assets from Binance and said she sees “no need” for dialogue with Washington. In a statement published by the official KCNA on Wednesday, the ruling-party director said the accusation showed “US hostile policy” toward North Korea. The rejection comes amid speculation about a possible summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un later this month. Trump said in August that he wanted to meet the North Korean leader later this year, and Pyongyang had not responded to the offer.

Binance said hackers used fake job interviews and a compromised internal artificial intelligence tool to breach its systems and drain $6.3 billion in cryptocurrency. An engineer was instructed to download malware disguised as an “assignment” during a second interview, and the code used obfuscation techniques to evade detection. The agencies investigating the case said the hack bore the signs of having been orchestrated by North Korea, and Pyongyang denied on Tuesday that it was behind the theft. The exchange froze $2.85 billion in assets and replenished about 98% of the affected tokens with company funds.

North Korea tested a dispersal warhead for a strategic cruise missile, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported, in a Yonhap story. Monday’s test was overseen by Kim Jong-sik, a member of the Workers’ Party Central Military Commission. The country’s Warhead Institute said the mid-sized dispersal warhead is capable of “turning into ashes” a target area of 5 to 6 hectares. On Saturday, the country had tested a cluster bomb for tactical ballistic missiles and vowed to field various types of cluster warheads by the end of the year.

The attack on Binance began in the early hours of October 29 and, in about 20 minutes, became the biggest crypto hack in history, with more than US$ 6 billion stolen, and by November 2 the company had returned 100% of the amount to customers. The company secured assets covering approximately 95 percent of the US$ 6.3 billion stolen, after net outflows of US$ 3.6 billion in the first nine hours, about 2 percent of the US$ 171 billion under management, while stablecoin issuers froze approximately US$ 3 billion of the affected funds. The preliminary investigation points to a compromised laptop belonging to an engineer, which could have allowed unauthorized withdrawal transactions. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said two days after the attack that North Korea was responsible for the theft, attributed by security firms to the TraderTraitor group.

North Korea tested on November 2 a dispersal warhead for a strategic cruise missile, according to state media. The KCNA claimed the middle-sized dispersal warhead can turn a target area of 5 to 6 hectares into ashes, in a November 2 launch that came a day after the cluster-bomb warhead test, amid rising tension with Seoul after a landmine blast wounded three South Korean soldiers at the border.

The sister of North Korea’s leader, Kim Yo-jong, called the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) allegation that Pyongyang stole US$ 6 billion from the crypto platform Binance a “grave political provocation”, in a statement released by the state-run KCNA news agency. The FBI attributed the theft to a North Korea-affiliated group called TraderTraitor. Kim said the claim was “absurd rhetoric and nothing new,” citing earlier US allegations about last year’s major hack of Bybit.

The FBI attributed the theft of $6.3 billion from the Binance cryptocurrency exchange to North Korean hackers.

Binance customers withdrew $3.64bn as the exchange reopened on Sunday following the record hack, which hit $6.3bn in digital assets and led to the suspension of all transactions — an attack the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) blames on North Korea, according to the BBC.

A South Korean army staff sergeant died after suffering external injuries at a frontline unit in Cheorwon near the North Korean border on Monday morning, Seoul's Defense Ministry said. A South Korean sergeant was killed on the border with external wounds, as tensions with the North escalate.

North Korea condemned the bilateral Iron Mace exercise, which integrates United States (US) nuclear capabilities with South Korean conventional forces, and vowed to accelerate its nuclear arsenal as an “immutable” policy. In a statement signed by Kim Jong-sik, the country also took aim at the Hoguk, Freedom Flag and Keen Sword exercises, the last a joint US–Japan exercise.

Japanese group GMO Internet suspects that a North Korea-linked hacking group was behind a data leak. The company suspects that the attack targeting users of its foreign exchange service was the work of a North Korea-linked group and reported the case to authorities.

United States (US) Secretary of State Marco Rubio said after a meeting with Group of Twenty (G20) foreign ministers in Atlanta that President Donald Trump remains open to talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, but no meeting has been scheduled. North Korea denounced the combined South Korea–US Iron Mace exercise, which integrates South Korean conventional and US nuclear capabilities. The exercise was a tabletop simulation at the Joint Chiefs of Staff headquarters in Seoul, from September 29 to October 2, to deter North Korean threats. Pyongyang said its nuclear deterrence will grow stronger at an ever faster pace.

North Korea’s Missile Administration tested on Saturday a cluster-bomb warhead for tactical ballistic missiles, assessing the warhead’s combat adaptability and power, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Research institutes under the administration said the Standard Type 2 cluster-bomb warhead is capable of turning into ashes a target area of 12 to 13 hectares with its highest-density power, according to KCNA. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Sunday that the missile was fired toward the Yellow Sea from an area around the northwestern county of Chongju, and that, under information sharing with the United States, it tracked relevant activities before the launch and maintained a readiness posture.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) blamed North Korea for the theft of more than $6 billion in virtual assets from the Binance exchange on or about October 29, according to a statement from the bureau itself. The FBI said the attack was tied to “malicious cyber activity” by an entity known as TraderTraitor, the same actor behind last year’s $1.5 billion Bybit hack, according to The Associated Press (AP). Binance said on Saturday that it had replaced 90 percent of the stolen amount using company money to buy new tokens, according to Al Jazeera.

The cluster warhead North Korea tested on Saturday for its tactical ballistic missile can devastate an area of 12 to 13 hectares (29 to 32 acres) with what research institutes described as ultra-high density, according to TRT World. The standard Type-2 warhead was assessed in a test conducted by the Missile Administration to examine how effectively it could be used in combat and the extent of damage it could inflict, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

North Korea’s Missile Administration tested on Oct 31 a cluster-bomb warhead intended for tactical ballistic missiles, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The test assessed the warhead’s adaptation to combat and its power. The agency said the Standard Type 2 warhead can turn a target area of 12 to 13 hectares into ashes with its highest-density power. Analysts quoted by Reuters said the tests could be part of efforts to modernize the military, which gained experience in modern warfare by sending troops to the war in Ukraine alongside Russia, according to Reuters, in a report republished by the Straits Times.

The FBI attributed to North Korea the theft of more than $6 billion in virtual assets from the Binance exchange on or about October 29 and identified the operation as TraderTraitor, saying it had observed the hackers converting the stolen assets primarily into Ethereum, according to the South Korean news agency Yonhap, which published the statement. Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, told the BBC it had covered 90% of the $6.3bn stolen in Thursday’s hack. The remaining 10% are less liquid tokens that may take longer to source in the required amounts, the company added.

The United States, South Korea and Japan reaffirmed their commitment to the “complete denuclearisation” of North Korea at a meeting on Friday on the sidelines of a Group of 20 (G20) foreign ministers’ gathering in Atlanta. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi pledged full implementation of Security Council resolutions, according to the US State Department.

Hackers attributed to North Korea stole at least 6.3 billion dollars in crypto from Binance’s wallets, and about half of that amount was frozen as the stolen assets moved across various blockchains, according to security researchers cited by TechCrunch. Thursday’s attack on Binance was most likely the work of the North Korean group TraderTraitor, which took digital assets from the exchange across 10 blockchain networks, most of the funds in about 20 minutes, according to TRM Labs, in information published by the Korea Herald. Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, suspended all deposits and withdrawals while its investigation into the breach continues.

North Korean leader Kim visited on Thursday an exhibition of drones, a variety of attack and other types that, according to the state Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), show recent achievements in the field of unmanned aeronautical technology. In a speech at the exhibition, Kim stressed the need to seize “the absolute superiority in the drone technology,” the Associated Press (AP) reported, citing KCNA.

North Korea denounced a joint statement by a group of countries monitoring sanctions enforcement against Pyongyang as a “flagrant violation of its sovereignty,” saying it was born out of hostility by the US and the West, the state Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. “Sanctions and pressure may work on the weak but never on us,” an unnamed foreign ministry spokesperson told KCNA, saying “the stereotyped sanctions racket of the US and the West” could not influence the position of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) as a nuclear weapons state.

US President Donald Trump said the United States is investigating whether the attack on Binance was carried out by North Korean hackers, according to G1. Reuters reported that analysts pinned the theft of US$6.3 billion from Binance, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, on North Korea, in a record theft.

Binance said it has frozen around half of the US$ 6.3 billion stolen in a hack it described as “complex,” the BBC reported. The case is believed to be the biggest heist of its kind on record, eclipsing the US$ 1.5 billion attack on the Bybit exchange in 2025. The broadcaster also reported that several analytics firms have linked the attack to a North Korean hacking unit.

Hackers stole US$6.3 billion from Binance, the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange, in the largest crypto theft in history, according to Reuters. The exchange said that deposits and withdrawals are suspended and about US$3 billion in funds have been frozen after the security incident, according to Al Jazeera. Blockchain investigation firm TRM Labs said it had high confidence that the attack was orchestrated by the TraderTraitor group, linked to North Korea, according to Euronews.

Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis arrived in Pyongyang on Thursday for talks with North Korean officials and the formal reopening of Switzerland's diplomatic office there, according to the Korea Herald. The office, which resumed operations on October 19, is Switzerland's first political and diplomatic presence in Pyongyang since the two countries established relations in 1974. North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) confirmed Cassis's arrival, greeted by foreign ministry officials and the North's ambassador to Switzerland, according to Yonhap.

Seoul is seeking a way out of its diplomatic dispute with Kyiv, which began after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy disclosed in his September 23 address to the United Nations General Assembly the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea, a transfer Seoul says it had asked to keep confidential. A senior presidential official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the government did not believe it was desirable for the issue to drag on and that discussions were under way to find a way out, according to the Korea Herald. The official also denied that Seoul was tilting toward Moscow, saying relations with Russia operate under international sanctions and restrictions and that the country continues to take part in international efforts to support Ukraine.

Kim Jong Un put the development of drones and the incorporation of artificial intelligence into weapons systems among the central priorities of North Korea's military modernization, at the Unmanned Aeronautical Technology Development 2026 exhibition, according to TASS. The exhibition, held on October 29, showcased multipurpose drones for strategic and operational-tactical missions, kamikaze strike drones and other combat systems, the Russian state news agency reported.

The foreign ministers of South Korea, the United States (US) and Japan will meet in the US on Friday to discuss Korean Peninsula issues, economic security cooperation and the response to Pyongyang, officials cited by Yonhap said — the discussion covers the North's latest missile launches and closer Pyongyang-Beijing ties following Kim Jong-un's recent visit to China. South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun will meet in Atlanta on Friday with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, the Korea Herald reported, as Seoul seeks to manage sensitive issues in its alliance with Washington.

North Korea tested suicide attack drones, tactical cruise missiles and multiple rocket launchers, vowing to “deter threats”, according to TRT World — tactical suicide attack drones and cruise missiles hit the islet target with 100 percent accuracy, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Analytics firm TRM Labs attributed the attack on Binance to North Korea’s TraderTraitor unit with high confidence, based on on- and off-chain intelligence — Chainalysis also said it has “high confidence” in the North Korean group’s link to the hack, according to the BBC. Reuters reported that North Korean hackers were behind the $6.3 billion raid on Binance, according to TRM.

Kim Jong-un attended an exhibition of unmanned aerial technology and a weapons demonstration featuring suicide drones, cruise missiles and a 600-millimeter multiple rocket launcher, state agency KCNA reported, according to Yonhap. The launcher, known as “Sniper,” was shown in a firing exercise in public for the first time, and KCNA claimed that air-to-ground missiles fired from suicide drones and multipurpose drones, along with cruise missiles, hit an island target “with 100 percent accuracy” — a claim by the state agency that has no independent verification. In a speech, Kim called for the rapid expansion of the country’s unmanned aerial capabilities and for breakthroughs in unmanned aerial technology and defense artificial intelligence.

North Korea fired about 10 short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea off its east coast on Thursday, launched at around 12:30 p.m. local time from the Wonsan area and flew about 250 km, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, according to G1. The South Korean Joint Chiefs said further analysis of other specifications was under way in coordination with the United States, according to Yonhap. The launch came about a week after Seoul proposed holding military talks with Pyongyang, as tensions have heightened since the Sept. 21 land mine blast that injured three South Korean soldiers, Yonhap reported.

Kim Ju-ae, daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, is consolidating her status as his designated successor, and Pyongyang is increasingly portraying her as a future military leader, according to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) in a Thursday statement reported by the Korea Herald.

North Korea launched more than 10 short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Thursday, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. The South Korean military said it detected the launches from the Wonsan area at around 12:30 p.m. Japan’s government said the suspected North Korean missile has already fallen, according to Kyodo News.

Pyongyang has sent a letter to the UN Security Council accusing Seoul of fabricating a landmine explosion that injured three South Korean soldiers, according to North Korea’s state Korean Central News Agency, as cited by Al Jazeera. The letter was delivered on Sunday by the country’s permanent representative to the UN and describes the incident as “a sinister obstructive move to brand as a ‘military invasion’”, saying that South Korea’s claims are a “farce to evade the responsibility for the ever-escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula”. Last week, South Korea’s foreign ministry had sent a letter to the Security Council president calling on the North to take responsibility for the landmine blast in the Demilitarized Zone, the Korea Herald reported. Seoul blames a September 21 explosion in the Demilitarized Zone on North Korean mines.

Kim Jong-un toured the Memorial Hall of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea on Saturday during his visit to the Chinese city of Dandong, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), cited by Kyodo News. On the same trip, Kim met with Wang Huning, China's No. 4 official, who serves as the country's top political adviser, according to the same agency.

Kim Jong-un returned to North Korea overland on Saturday after visiting a Korean War memorial in Dandong, on the border with China, and crossed a newly inaugurated bridge between the two countries, a gesture seen as symbolizing Beijing's and Pyongyang's effort to expand bilateral trade ties, according to G1. North Korean state media described the bond as “unbreakable”, and Kim thanked the Chinese people, who helped “our revolution with blood”, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Kim Jong-un met with Wang Huning, China’s number four, in the border city of Dandong, according to the Xinhua agency, as cited by Kyodo News.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un crossed into China on Saturday over the new Yalu River bridge, entering the border city of Dandong on an unannounced visit confirmed by South Korea's Unification Ministry, according to the Korea Herald. It is Kim's first trip to China since September 2025, when he attended a military parade in Beijing marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported his arrival in Dandong over the new bridge, according to Kyodo News.

Kim Jong-un urged the North Korean military to train to become the strongest armed forces in the world at a two-day meeting of company commanders in Pyongyang, state media said, in a South China Morning Post report.

South Korea proposed military talks with North Korea to verify the location of the demarcation line and avoid accidental clashes, according to Kyodo News. The proposal includes confirming the military demarcation line, restoring communication lines and discussing measures against border clashes, after landmine blasts injured three South Korean soldiers, according to the AP, which adds that the South is also open to three-way talks involving the US-led United Nations Command.

South Korea sent a letter to the president of the United Nations (UN) Security Council over last month’s land mine explosion near the inter-Korean border that injured three South Korean soldiers, according to Yonhap. The letter says the explosion was caused by a land mine planted by North Korean troops and violated the Korean War Armistice Agreement, also according to Yonhap.

North Korea warned that new counter means will stand ready along the entire southern border line and the loudspeakers against South Korea will be ready within days, according to Kyodo News. In a separate statement on Wednesday, the loudspeakers for psychological warfare will be in operation along the whole border by the end of October.

South Korea’s defence ministry urged North Korea to hold urgent military talks to ease frontier tension and prevent accidental military clashes, shortly after Pyongyang severed the cross-border military hotline and declared it will no longer seek dialogue or unification with its foe, TRT World reported. Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said propaganda loudspeakers aimed at the South will be ready to restart within days along the entire border, according to the Guardian. TRT World reported that she also said “our new counter means will get into the alert for duty at all the southern border line” and that the loudspeakers “will be on standby in a matter of days”.

Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said on Thursday that North Korea will place anti-South Korea loudspeakers on standby along the entire border “within days” and warned Seoul of “the most horrible and distressing situation” if it continues what Pyongyang calls interference, according to Reuters, in a report published by The Hindu. “Our new counter means will get into the alert for duty at all the southern border line and the loudspeakers against the ROK will be on standby in a matter of days,” she said in a statement carried by state media KCNA. On Wednesday evening, October 21, she had already said the country would activate the loudspeakers across the border by the end of October. South Korea says North Korean mines caused a border blast last month that seriously wounded two soldiers; North Korea denies responsibility, calling the incident a South Korean fabrication.

Kim Yo Jong, the sister of leader Kim Jong Un, said on Wednesday that North Korea had moved new units into “firing positions” at the border, according to AFP, in an article republished by the Kuwait Times. She also said Kim Jong Un had “issued an order to fortify the border with an enemy state to be eternally impregnable”. Jin Yong-sung, chairman of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, ordered the military to “respond with firm resolve” if the North used Seoul’s actions as a pretext for aggression.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung reiterated Monday that Seoul should retake wartime operational control (OPCON) at an early date, Yonhap reported. The Pentagon told the outlet that the transition “remains a conditions-based process mutually agreed upon by the United States and the Republic of Korea”. US Forces Korea Commander Gen. Xavier Brunson said that “conditions have changed”, citing North Korea's recent missile launches, and indicated that the change called for new standards for the transfer.

South Korea's top military officer ordered troops on Tuesday to sternly respond to any enemy provocations, a day after North Korea threatened to deploy more weapons along the inter-Korean border, according to Yonhap.

Kim Yo-jong said North Korea’s military leadership is considering increasing the deployment of tactical strike means near the entire southern border and resuming loudspeaker broadcasts against South Korea, as “preemptive and suppressive” measures for any contingency, the Korea Herald reported. She accused the South Korean military of 2,870 warning broadcasts and of firing warning shots on 201 occasions between Aug. 1 and Oct. 17. South Korea’s Defense Ministry said the warnings are delivered through smaller speakers installed at South Korean guard posts and used for military operations toward North Korea.

North Korea said it conducted an underwater test of a new torpedo weapon system on Thursday, according to state news agency KCNA, in an account by the South China Morning Post, which described the test as a success and a significant step in the country's naval development. KCNA said artificial intelligence was used for target detection and guidance in the new high-speed precision-guided torpedo, whose propulsion technology was verified through more than 180 tests over the past five years.

North Korea says it test-fired on October 14 two types of submarine-launched strategic cruise missiles in the East Sea, according to SBS News. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), via SBS, stated the test inspected the mobilization readiness of underwater combat systems and the Navy strategic mission execution capabilities, while state media published photos of what it said were the Wednesday test, according to DW.

South Korea will continue supporting Ukraine “as a responsible member of the international community,” despite a diplomatic dispute, according to the South China Morning Post. The dispute involves Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s public disclosure of the transfer of North Korean prisoners during his UN General Assembly speech on September 23.

North Korean analyst Pak Ju Won wrote to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) that the US is abetting Japan’s drive toward nuclear armament by supporting Tokyo’s intention to acquire nuclear-powered submarines, with the ultimate goal of creating the conditions to acquire nuclear weapons, according to TASS.

The New Yalu River Bridge, linking Liaoning in China to North Pyongan in North Korea, was inaugurated on Thursday (10/15), with four lanes in both directions and a total length of 3,026 meters, connecting the cities of Dandong and Sinuiju, with Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning saying the opening will expand economic exchanges and the flow of citizens between the two countries, according to Opera Mundi.

North Korea said it test-fired submarine-launched cruise missiles on Wednesday, according to Kyodo News.

Senior American diplomats, administration officials and Indo-Pacific military commanders met in Tokyo earlier this month, in a gathering one source called unusual, ahead of President Donald Trump's planned visit to China in November. According to the Chosun Ilbo, observers suggest the meeting aimed to review US strategies toward China and North Korea. On the 8th, senior State Department officials and 10 US ambassadors to Asian countries visited Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where they met Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi.

Kim Jong Un visited a defense industry museum displaying an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States, as reported by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), according to the KCNA, in a text cited by the Jerusalem Post. The report came a day after Trump said he might meet Kim on a planned trip to Asia, with an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in China in mid-November, and North Korea said it test-fired a tactical ballistic missile on Monday to confirm the upgrade of an unspecified key component, according to the KCNA, in a text cited by the Jerusalem Post.

North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles towards the sea off its east coast on Monday, its fourth launch in a month, and one of the types flew more than 900 km after being launched at around 9:20 a.m. local time from near Pyongyang, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, cited by the Hindustan Times.

Russian Emergencies Minister Alexander Kurenkov has arrived in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to discuss cooperation in disaster prevention and management, according to TASS. A delegation from Russia's emergency ministry visited Pyongyang to discuss ways to expand cooperation in disaster management, North Korea's state media reported on Monday. The two ministries plan to sign a joint action plan for 2027-2029, according to TASS.

North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles from the Pyongyang area toward the East Sea, according to South Koreaʼs Joint Chiefs of Staff, cited by France24, and Japanʼs Defence Ministry separately confirmed the launch of at least one suspected ballistic missile. The South Korean body did not immediately say whether the weapon was ballistic or how far it flew, according to The Hindu.

South Korea accused North Korea’s government of deliberately laying the land mine that wounded three South Korean soldiers near the inter-Korean border on September 21, according to Opera Mundi. North Korea rejected the accusation and called the case a ploy to shift the blame.

South Korea said it will recall its ambassador to Ukraine, stepping up its protest against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s recent revelation of a supposedly secret transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea, The Associated Press reported. South Korea has accused Ukraine of violating a nondisclosure agreement on their transfer in mid-September, but Kyiv has denied agreeing to such a deal.

South Korea said on Monday that a border blast that seriously wounded two of its soldiers was caused by mines planted by North Korea, according to Reuters, in a text republished by WIFC. Seoul says the mine exploded on September 21 and was believed to have been planted about a year ago, and demands an apology and the removal of the mines. On Friday, Kim Yo Jong, the sister of leader Kim Jong Un, said South Korea’s accusation was “groundless” and dismissed the demand for an apology.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia has transferred jet-powered drone technology to North Korea as part of its intensifying defense partnership, according to the Kyiv Independent. Asked whether Moscow had shared the new jet drone technology with Pyongyang, Zelenskyy’s response was unequivocal: “Yes, of course.”

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un personally supervised the launch of an intermediate-range strategic missile, which according to KCNA flew 1,000 km before hitting its designated target, Sputnik reported. The Russian state agency TASS registered that the North Korean hypersonic missile hit a target 1,000 km away.

North Korea said it launched an intermediate-range missile from the country’s east on Saturday that hit a target 1,000 km out at sea, in a drill overseen by Kim Jong Un, according to The Hindu, in a Reuters report. South Korea’s military said on Saturday it had detected a ballistic missile launch and assessed the missile had flown more than 700 km toward the sea off its east coast. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the drill was intended to train troops operating a hypersonic strategic weapon system and to assess the reliability, efficiency and mobility of the country’s war deterrent.

North Korea said on Saturday it had tested an intermediate-range missile with built-in artificial intelligence, according to G1. In its statement, Pyongyang said the missile was able to change its trajectory on its own at low altitude. South Korea’s armed forces said the launch flew more than 700 kilometres toward the sea off the east coast. According to Kim Yo-jong, sister of the leader, Kim Jong-un personally oversaw the exercise, in a statement cited by Sputnik.

Japan issued an emergency alert on Saturday about the launch of a suspected North Korean ballistic missile, on the day South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North fired at least one ballistic missile from the Wonsan area, on the peninsula’s eastern coast, towards the sea. The projectile flew more than 700 km, according to the same Joint Chiefs of Staff, cited by the Yonhap news agency.

Pyongyang said it will not discuss military sovereignty issues with Seoul, ruled out talks on the demarcation of the borderline and once again rejected South Korea’s demand that it apologize for a recent incident where a landmine exploded, according to TASS. On October 2, South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young proposed talks on the situation in the demilitarized zone and the division line.

Three South Korean soldiers were injured by mines about 10 meters south of the military demarcation line, according to DW. South Korea accused the North of sowing mines to the south of the line, a breach of the armistice, and demanded an apology, according to DW. The UN Command said it had determined that an Armistice Agreement violation occurred. The North dismissed the South’s allegations as a self-staged farce, according to DW.

South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung threatened to take unspecified further action if Ukraine does not issue a public apology for revealing that two North Korean prisoners of war had been sent to the South, according to the BBC. The South Korean president expressed anger at Ukraine over comments by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a speech at the UN that appeared to reveal a secret deal, according to Al Jazeera. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described the situation as a “diplomatic misunderstanding” and said Kyiv was working to resolve it, according to the BBC.

Kim Jong Un said in a telegram to Chinese President Xi Jinping that he intends to take relations between North Korea and China to a new strategic level, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), in text republished by TASS — the message was sent on the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China and cites Kim’s meetings with Xi last year and this year, according to TASS.

South Korea began demanding a formal apology and “responsible measures” from Pyongyang over the September 21 blast in the western Demilitarized Zone, according to The Guardian. The US-led United Nations Command concluded there was an Armistice Agreement violation, according to Al Jazeera. Kim Yo-jong denied that North Korean soldiers had crossed the border and warned border units would carry out “immediate and merciless retaliation” if South Korean troops fired on Northern soldiers. Three South Korean soldiers were injured in the two blasts, according to Al Jazeera.

US President Donald Trump called Kim Jong-un a friend and played down North Korea’s nuclear arsenal, according to Al Jazeera. The remarks came in Washington on Tuesday in reply to a question about why North Korea could have nuclear weapons but Iran could not, according to Al Jazeera.

Deputy Defense Ministers Ryo Chol-un of North Korea and Nguyen Truong Thang of Vietnam discussed in Hanoi the further expansion of military cooperation, the TASS news agency reported, citing the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). According to the agency, the negotiations took place on September 24 at the headquarters of Vietnam’s Ministry of Defense.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said that North Korean land mines were the highly likely cause of the September 21 explosion in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which injured three soldiers, according to The Korea Times. North Korea denied the claim on Wednesday, accused Seoul of fabricating the findings and warned of “immediate and merciless” retaliation if its troops are fired upon, according to The Korea Herald.

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said the US approval for South Korea to build its first nuclear submarine is “a dangerous development” that adds new instability to the region, according to Reuters, in a text republished by The Straits Times. According to the ministry, the move is another demonstration of US nuclear proliferation through the AUKUS pact (Australia, United Kingdom and United States). The statement was published by state media, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

South Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo lodged a formal complaint with Ukraine’s acting ambassador, Andrii Vieshkin, and expressed “strong regret” that President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed the transfer of two captured North Korean soldiers, which Seoul says was supposed to be a secret, according to the BBC. Seoul summoned the diplomat after Zelensky announced last week that his government had transferred the two soldiers to Seoul, according to the BBC.

South Korean Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul said on Monday that “appropriate, substantial and corresponding” measures would be taken if the explosion inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) is confirmed to have been caused by land mines planted by North Korea. Two South Korean soldiers were severely wounded and a third suffered minor injuries, according to Yonhap. Brig. Gen. Hwang Ju-bong, chief of the ground operations division of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a regular press briefing that the command received testimony that what the troops saw was similar to a wooden-box land mine.

South Korea demanded an official explanation and apology from Ukraine for revealing the transfer of the two North Korean prisoners, expressing “strong regret” over the unilateral disclosure, according to Al Jazeera. Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed at the UN General Assembly that Kyiv transferred the two prisoners, captured in Russia's Kursk region in January 2025.

South Korea’s presidential office demanded an official explanation and apology from Ukraine for disclosing the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea, according to the Hindustan Times, in a text from the Reuters feed. Seoul says Ukraine repeatedly asked for secrecy through various channels about the operation. The presidential office said Ukraine’s denial that any confidentiality agreement existed was false and had damaged trust between the two governments, according to Nikkei Asia, citing Reuters.

South Korea’s military and the UN Command opened a joint investigation into a landmine explosion near the demilitarised zone separating the two Koreas, Reuters reported, in a text republished by The Hindu. A team of about 40 officials searched an area near the site of the September 21 blast. Three South Korean soldiers were wounded in the explosion on September 21 while clearing a patrol route in the western sector of the demilitarised zone.

North Korea said South Korea would be a decisive target of collective retaliation if it serves as a hub of the United States collective defense system, in an article by Kang Chol Su, a department director at the Institute of Enemy State Studies, according to TASS, reproducing the North Korean state agency KCNA. The article cites remarks by the commander of the two countries’ forces about Seoul as a collective defense hub, also according to the TASS reproduction.

North Korea confirmed on Tuesday that what South Korea identified as two short-range ballistic missiles on Sunday was a test of a “new combat weapon system,” carried out in the presence of Kim Jong-un, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Kim called the test “an unquestionable demonstration of advanced defense technology” and “a clear renewal in the modernization of the armed forces,” and said the country’s adversaries would better understand what the technological advance means militarily, according to the state agency. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff had said the two launches, from the Wonsan area about three hours apart, flew roughly 450 kilometers and more than 600 kilometers. The North did not specify what type of weapon was tested.