NORTH Korea has arrested three shipyard bosses after a humiliating warship launch flop that Kim Jong-un called a “criminal act”. The 5,000-tonne destroyer – hailed as a symbol of military might –

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had vowed to punish those found responsible for the mishap, which he called a "criminal act caused by absolute carelessness".

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

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.

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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 has carried out frequent missile tests in violation of United Nations Security Council sanctions and continues to build out its nuclear weapons program. The Kim Jong Un regime insists both are necessary for self-defense, citing "provocations" by the U.S. and its allies.