After a bungled launch, the vessel appears to be stuck and lying on its side in the water. North Korea said it was a 5,000-ton destroyer.

Song Sang-hyun said "the time is right" for Ukraine to file a complaint over North Korea's military assistance to Russia.

Two women who fled North Korea have been telling the United Nations about the plight of people still living in the country and urging the world body to hold North Korea's leader accountable for gross human rights violations.

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.

Kim Jong Un was reportedly enraged by the "sheer carelessness" leading to the botched launch of the regime's second destroyer.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the country's air force drills and stressed the importance of a step-up in war preparation, according to state media.

International visitors have returned to the DPRK for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic resealed the North Korean border. Visitors from Russia, an ally of the DPRK, traveled to Pyongyang, the capital, in February 2024; in February 2025, visitors from Britain, Canada, France and Germany arrived in the city of Rason.

Pyongyang is dependent on the world's second-largest economy, but the "blood-cemented alliance" doesn't extend to security issues.