North Korea

This page brings together our reporting on North Korea, from missile tests and military development to relations with South Korea, Japan, China and the United States. Recent coverage examines the Kang Kon destroyer and Kim Jong Un's claims of progress towards a nuclear-armed navy, as well as Seoul's approach to closer defence ties with Japan. It also includes reporting on South Korea's former president Yoon and the 30-year term handed to him over secret drone flights into North Korea.

Developments in September 2026 underline the military and diplomatic themes running through the archive. According to the American Enterprise Institute's Korean Peninsula Update, Kim Jong Un visited military production facilities from 16 to 18 September and emphasised artificial-intelligence integration and artillery automation. North Korea conducted missile tests on 20 September that were reported to include a hypersonic glide vehicle, with state media announcing them on 22 September. Kim Yo Jong also denounced a US, South Korean and Japanese military exercise on 17 September and warned of a proportional response, then rejected International Atomic Energy Agency denuclearisation calls as futile on 21 September. A Chinese delegation visited North Korea from 14 to 18 September, the first such visit since 2019.

More on this topic: defence and China coverage, our report on the Kang Kon destroyer tests, the sentencing of South Korea's former president over drone flights into the North, and the wider World section.