North Korea

Shortly before the launch, a spokesperson for the North's defence ministry issued a statement denouncing what it called the "provocative and irresponsible" drills, Yonhap news agency reported. Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launches from the Sunan area in Pyongyang between 7:25 p.m. and 7:37 p.m..

In the message, Kim said that Beijing has "built a comprehensively well-off society" and that its "national power and international position remarkably strengthened" under Xi's "energetic" leadership, according to North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

In the message sent on the occasion of Russia Day, Kim said friendly relations between the North and Russia are a "precious strategic asset" and his country will make efforts to ceaselessly develop such cooperative ties, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

South Korea, which last sat on the council in 2013-2014, aims to return to the council for 2024-2025, and the UN will vote on the bid on Tuesday, reports Yonhap News Agency.

The photos, released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), show Pyongyang's new "Chollima-1" rocket carrying the military reconnaissance satellite, "Malligyong-1", taking off from the country's rocket launching station on the west coast, reports Yonhap News Agency.

Kim Yo Jong made the remarks as she slammed the US for its denouncement of North Korea's botched launch on Wednesday of what it claimed to be a "space launch vehicle," according to a statement carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). "If North Korea's satellite launch should be particularly censured.

After the separation of the first stage, the rocket carrying the spy satellite fell into the sea due to an engine problem, Yonhap news agency reported, citing the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The North's state-run space development agency will investigate the "grave" defects and plans to conduct the second satellite launch.

The remarks by Koh Yu-hwan, head of the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, were compared with an assessment by South Korea's spy agency, which told lawmakers that the daughter, Ju-ae, is Kim's second child, reports Yonhap News Agency.

The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that the protest was held in South Hwanghae province on Tuesday to "sternly punish" the US and South Korea, or what it called a "gangster" and "puppet" state, respectively, reports Yonhap News Agency. The KCNA said the participants, full of determination for revenge, burned an effigy depicting the "invaders and provocateurs", apparently referring to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and his US.

US Special Representative for North Korea Sung Kim held a meeting with his South Korean counterpart, Kim Gunn, on Tuesday on the sidelines of the Asan Plenum 2023 conference, a security forum hosted by a local think tank, Yonhap news agency reported. The two sides shared their assessments of the current security.