South Korea says the North conducted a rocket launch on Tuesday, on the same day a US carrier strike group docked in the South's largest port.
Russia says it will develop relations with North Korea “in all areas” as both countries are under harsh sanctions by the United States, which accuses Moscow of receiving arms from Pyongyang amid the war in Ukraine.
As conflicts rage around the world, in Seoul an air defense expo shows how a global arms race is accelerating.
Russia’s foreign minister has proposed regular security talks with North Korea and China to deal with what he described as increasing US-led regional military threats.
Pyongyang’s nuclear program is a self-defensive measure to preempt a nuclear war in light of the United States’ pursuit of “nuclear supremacy,” North Korean media KCNA said on Tuesday.
The US has accused North Korea of providing Russia with a shipment of weapons, claiming that Pyongyang is sending more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions to Moscow.
North Korea has strongly criticized France for its plans to deploy its military forces to the waters of the Korean Peninsula, terming the decision as outdated "gunboat diplomacy".
North Korea has vehemently denounced the United Nation's nuclear watchdog for "cooking up" a resolution against Pyongyang's nuclear program, saying it will never tolerate any acts of infringement upon its sovereignty.
North Korea has amended its constitution in a bid to update its nuclear doctrine and boost its nuclear power status, citing “provocations” from the United States.