North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) met over two days this week and reported on its achievements during 2024 but state media made no mention of anticipated changes to the constitution that would further cement its hostile policy towards South Korea.

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump will reach out to Kim Jong Un again, he said in an interview aired on Thursday (Jan 23), calling the North Korean leader with whom he previously met three times a "smart guy".

South Korea said denuclearization was still the goal after President Donald Trump used a phrase that could imply recognition of North Korea as a nuclear-armed state.

North Korea troops have been helping Russian forces as they seek to push Ukrainian soldiers out of Russia’s Kursk region.

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

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."

North Korea’s state media reported on Donald Trump’s inauguration in its first direct acknowledgement of his return to the White House and adopted a neutral tone without referencing the president’s characterization of Pyongyang as a “nuclear power.

South Korea's defence ministry said on Tuesday the denuclearisation of North Korea must continue to be the goal necessary for lasting global peace, after reports that U.S. President Donald Trump had called Pyongyang "a nuclear power.

The attack came as South Korea’s military said North Korea is preparing to send more troops to join Russia’s fight against Ukraine, despite Pyongyang suffering a high rate of losses among its existing deployment of 11,000 and seeing some of its soldiers captured.

South Korea rebuked President Trump’s remarks calling North Korea a “nuclear power,” raising concern about the relationship between the two countries. “North Korea’s denuclearization remains a

North Korea is reportedly preparing to send more troops to Russia to fuel the war in Ukraine, even after significant losses, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) reported.