Observers say Ukraine will be high on the agenda when Chinese President Xi Jinping travels to France, Serbia and Hungary next month, while the West will be watching Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s visit to China for signs Beijing is supporting Moscow’s war efforts.

The move is in line with Pyongyang’s efforts to attract Iran to an alliance against the US and boost cooperation for mutual benefit, analyst notes.

The weapons, with double the striking distance, were used for the first time to bomb a Russian airfield in Crimea and Russian forces in another occupied area.

Beijing will feel ‘inconvenient’ as Washington steps up trilateral military cooperation to stem Pyongyang threats, expert says.

Events used to lionise Kim’s grandfather and father have been reduced, a move that could put the focus on Kim’s own achievements and policies instead.

North Korea state media reports show that video surveillance is becoming more common at schools, workplaces and airports, researchers wrote in a new report.

Zhao is the most senior Chinese official to visit Pyongyang since the country reopened its borders last year in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic

Kim inspected a military university, telling staff and students that ‘now is the time to be more thoroughly prepared for a war than ever before’.

Yoon Suk-yeol’s ruling party garnered 108 seats, trailing the liberal Democratic Party of Korea’s comfortable majority of 175 spots in the 300-strong parliament.

Some 88 per cent of respondents also say North Korea is a cause for concern, while 89 per cent identify Russia as a danger, according to the annual survey.

Chinese foreign ministry says China does not compete with other nations in military power and ‘firmly pursues a defensive national defence policy’.

Reports suggest it will be the new medium-range Typhon system, capable of firing high-speed anti-shipping projectiles or Tomahawk cruise missiles to address threats from North Korea and China.

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield will become the most senior US official to visit the demilitarised zone dividing the two Koreas since Vice-President Kamala Harris went there in 2022.

Due to potential use in development of hypersonic weapons, Vulcan-CFD software is subject to export controls with distributions limited to within US.

The North Korean military wouldn’t otherwise have had the opportunity to combat test its weapons and take away lessons to improve them, according to a top US general.

Top diplomat will meet his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi to discuss Ukraine, the Asia-Pacific and other issues, Russian foreign ministry says.

‘Unprecedented trilateral engagement’ for Washington, Tokyo and Manila when countries’ leaders meet next week, No 2 State Department official says.

Read on for a closer look at the potential conflict scenarios, after two prominent analysts set North Korea watchers’ tongues wagging by warning Kim ‘has made a strategic decision to go to war’.

The launch was overseen by Kim Jong-un, who said the weapon showed the ‘absolute superiority’ of Pyongyang’s defence technology.

The unprecedented absence of first lady Kim Keon-hee, who has not appeared in public since December 15, is seen by analysts as a political decision to shield President Yoon’s party from any negative comment.

No official details yet on involvement of US forces, but the sighting of a Chinese unmanned aircraft near Japanese waters has raised a security spectre.

Yoon risks being unable to carry out labour, pension, and education reforms if he were to lose next month’s parliamentary elections.

US Treasury Department accused entities of channelling funds to North Korea’s weapons programmes. It said action was coordinated with South Korea.