Kim Jong Un

Russian President Vladimir Putin enjoyed a red carpet welcome, a military ceremony and an embrace from North Korea's Kim Jong Un during a state visit Wednesday to Pyongyang where they both pledged to forge closer ties.

Kim hailed a "new era" in relations as he began summit talks with Putin, who in turn thanked his host for backing Russia's war in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday hailed North Korea for "firmly supporting" Moscow's war in Ukraine ahead of a visit to Pyongyang set to boost defense ties between the two nuclear-armed countries.

North Korea sent hundreds more trash-carrying balloons over the border, Seoul's military said Monday, after Kim Jong Un's powerful sister warned of further responses if the South keeps up its "psychological warfare."

North Korea has floated another 600 trash-filled balloons across the border, the South's military said Sunday, with personnel in hazmat suits seen collecting piles of rubbish containing everything from cigarette butts to bits of cardboard and plastic.

North Korean state media on Friday released images of leader Kim Jong Un supervising tests of a multiple rocket launcher system, a day after Seoul accused Pyongyang of firing a volley of short-range ballistic missiles.

The photos showed Kim, in a brown leather jacket, smiling with uniformed generals as he supervised the simultaneous launch of what appeared to be 18 projectiles.

South Korea on Tuesday slammed Pyongyang's failed attempt to put a second spy satellite in orbit, saying the abortive launch was a "provocative act" that threatened regional stability.

North Korea said late Monday that the rocket carrying its "Malligyong-1-1" reconnaissance satellite exploded minutes after launch due to a suspected engine problem.

North Korea will equip its military with a new 240mm multiple rocket launcher starting this year, state media said Saturday, adding a "significant change" for the army's artillery combat capabilities was under way.

Leader Kim Jong Un on Friday oversaw a live-fire test of the "technically updated" rocket system, Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency said.

North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations said efforts to set up a new panel to monitor sanctions against his country would end in failure, state media reported on Sunday.

Kim Song's comments come after Russia's veto in March which effectively ended official U.N. monitoring of sanctions imposed on the isolated country for its pursuit of banned nuclear and weapons programmes.

China's top legislator and a senior North Korean official emphasised opening a "new chapter" of Beijing-Pyongyang relations, the North's state media said Saturday, as they met for one of the most high-level talks between the allies in years.

Amid escalating geopolitical tensions, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has issued a stark warning, emphasizing the imperative for heightened war readiness in the face of prevailing uncertainties.