North Korea denounced the United States for sending military aircraft over the Korean peninsula several times this month, as well as the U.S., Japan and South Korea for holding an air military exercise,

John Kirby, White House national security communications adviser, said of Hegseth's remarks on North Korea's status as a nuclear power: "We've not made such a recognition. I can't speak to what the incoming team will—how they'll characterize it. We've not gone so far as to make that recognition."

A South Korean lawmaker said Seoul's intelligence showed some 3,000 North Korean troops have been wounded or killed in Kursk.

North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast on Tuesday, South Korea's military said, marking Pyongyang's latest show of force just days ahead of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's return to office.

(Reuters) - Russia signed a strategic partnership treaty with Iran on Friday that follows similar pacts with China and North Korea. All three countries are adversaries of the United States, and Russia has used its ties with them to help blunt the impact of Western sanctions and boost its war effort in Ukraine.

The launch event came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was visiting Seoul for talks with South Korean allies over the North Korean nuclear threat and other issues.

Now former President of South Korea, Yoon Suk-yeol, staged a just before the end of 2024. The result? It was over before it started, however, the short-lived coup rocked Korean politics to its core, and the ripple effects are still felt to this day.

North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea on Tuesday, Seoul's military said, in a provocation just days before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

North Korea condemned on Friday joint military drills between South Korea, Japan and the United States held this week, threatening to respond by exercising its right to self-defence "more intensively".

Russia signed a strategic partnership treaty with Iran on Friday that follows similar pacts with China and North Korea. All three countries are adversaries of the United States, and Russia has used its ties with them to help blunt the impact of Western sanctions and boost its war effort in Ukraine.

Trump defense secretary nominee Pete Hesgeth ruffled feathers in S. Korea with his written statement to the Senate panel overseeing his confirmation