North Korea

Speaking on Thursday, Kim stressed that the prosperity of the North depends on a "powerful army" and noted "one can demonstrate one's dignity and honor only when one is strong", according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). He added that suppressing the "increasingly brutal imperialist tyranny by force" requires its army to "grow stronger at an incomparably faster speed than that of the past history".

Kim Jong-un presided over an enlarged meeting of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) on Monday, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Participants "discussed in depth the major military and political tasks for 2023 and the long-term issues concerning the orientation for army building", Yonhap News Agency quoted the KCNA as saying in a statement.

In an article carried by the Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim Tong-myong, a researcher of the North's organization on international political study, said Stoltenberg's current trip appears to be aimed at "instigating" the creation of the Asian version of NATO, reports Yonhap News Agency.

Kwon Jong-gun, director-general in charge of US affairs at North Korea's foreign ministry, claimed the US again talked about the "groundless rumour" of arms dealing between North Korea and Russia in an attempt to justify its offer of weapons to Ukraine, Xinhua News Agency reported. The US has recently announced its decision to send 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine to help its fight against Russia's invasion. Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of the country's leader Kim Jong-un, said Washington is crossing the "red line."

"I think it's inevitable. I think it's seventh nuclear test is inevitable and I think another Hwasong-17 (intercontinental ballistic missile) test using a solid fuel propeller, I think that's inevitable because in the New Year speech, they said that," said Cha, currently a senior vice president and Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.

In the poll of 2,511 voters conducted by Realmeter from December 26-30, 2022, 40 per cent positively assessed Yoon's job performance, down 1.2 percentage points from the previous week, reports Yonhap News Agency. Yoon's disapproval rating was 57.2 per cent, up 0.6 percentage point.

In its news letter released on Sunday, the Korea-US Alliance Foundation disclosed the content of its delegation's discussions with the command's officials during its visit to the command's headquarters in Hawaii last month, Yonhap news agency reported. "The command explained that Kim Jong-un has not been imagining a North Korea without nuclear weapons and seeks to maintain its survival and international influence through nuclear arms," the Korean-language newsletter reads. Casting the North as posing a "very serious threat," the command noted "considerable" progress

"We can confirm that North Korea has completed an initial arms delivery to Wagner, which paid for that equipment," John Kirby said, expressing concerns that Pyongyang is planning to deliver more military equipment. North Korea has flatly denied continued allegations that it has had arms transactions with Russia.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launch from the Sunan area in Pyongyang at 4:32 p.m., and that the two missiles flew some 250 kilometers and 350 km, respectively. It did not provide other details. The launch came after the South and the United States staged air drills, involving America's B-52H strategic bombers and F-22 stealth jets, on Tuesday in a show of force following the North's missile launches Sunday, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The test was conducted at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground on Sunday mainly to "evaluate the capabilities of satellite photography and data transmission system and ground control system", North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a reported.