Kim Jong Un

South Korea says that North Korea has exploded an inter-Korean liaison office building just north of the tense Korean border.
Seoul's Unification Ministry says the destruction of the building at the North Korean border town of Kaesong happened at 2:49 p.m. on June 16.

Fear of the coronavirus could have been keeping North Korean leader Kim Jong Un out of public sight, a South Korean minister and U.S. sources said on April 28, following intense speculation and concern as to his whereabouts and health.

The South Korean government has stated that no unusual activity has been observed in North Korea after unconfirmed reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is in critical condition after heart surgery.

North Korea on April 14 fired several suspected cruise missiles towards the sea, the South's military said.    

The "multiple projectiles" fired from Munchon in the east of the country were believed to be "short-range cruise missiles," the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.    

North Korea's latest test of super-large multiple rocket launchers a day earlier was a success, state media said on March 30.

North Korea fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast on Sunday, the latest in a flurry of launches that South Korea decried as "inappropriate" amid the coronavirus pandemic.

North Korea fired two projectiles that appeared to be short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off the east coast of the Korean peninsula, South Korea's military said on March 21, after what analysts said was a show of confidence during the coronavirus epidemic by announcing an April legislature session.

North Korea fired two unidentified projectiles into its eastern sea on March 2 as it begins to resume weapons demonstrations after a months-long hiatus that could have been forced by the coronavirus crisis in Asia.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called at a ruling party meeting for "positive and offensive measures" to ensure security ahead of a year-end deadline he has set for denuclearisation talks with the United States, state media KCNA said on Dec. 30.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Dec. 24 brushed off North Korea's warning of a "Christmas gift," saying the United States would "deal with it very successfully," amid U.S. concerns that Pyongyang might be preparing a long-range missile test.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a parachuting drill of military sharpshooters and vowed to build an "invincible army,'' displaying more defiance even as the United States and South Korea called off their own exercises to create space for nuclear diplomacy.