North Korea is intensifying its military rhetoric. The regime of Kim Jong-un conducted hypersonic missile tests on Sunday with the aim of "preparing nuclear forces for real war." Pyongyang flexed its nuclear muscles again after condemning the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro by the United States, an operation that North Koreans consider a blatant violation of an allied country's sovereignty.
The North Korean state agency KCNA reported on Monday that Kim personally supervised the launch of two "next-generation" ballistic missiles, the first weapons tests in 2026. The North Korean leader justified the tests due to the "recent geopolitical crisis."
Images released by state media show Kim smoking a cigarette, surrounded by senior military officials, as a missile rises in the early morning darkness. The new missile launch into the sea occurred just hours before South Korean President Lee Jae-myung began his first official trip to Beijing, where he hopes to garner support from his counterpart Xi Jinping to reactivate communication channels on the Korean Peninsula.
"The timing chosen for North Korea's latest missile test is not coincidental," said Hong Min, a researcher at the Korean Institute for National Unification in Seoul. "Pyongyang wants to show that it has nuclear and military deterrence capabilities that other countries, like Venezuela, do not have, and that sets it apart from U.S. pressure," he added.
On Sunday, the North Korean Foreign Ministry described the U.S. action as a "serious invasion of sovereignty" and further evidence of Washington's "rogue and brutal nature." In the official narrative, the episode reinforces the argument that only the development of nuclear weapons and advanced missiles can ensure the regime's survival.
"Recently, significant progress has been made by putting our nuclear forces into practice and preparing them for real war," stated Kim, who emphasized that the ultimate goal is to place the country's nuclear deterrence "on a highly developed basis."
Last October, Kim's regime unveiled a new solid-fuel missile for the first time in a large military parade in Pyongyang to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea.
They presented the intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-20. "It is the country's most powerful strategic nuclear weapons system," highlighted the state news agency KCNA. Weeks later, they tested their hypersonic missile system. These weapons, capable of traveling at more than five times the speed of sound and maneuvering during flight, are particularly difficult to detect and intercept.
At the Pyongyang parade, alongside the North Korean dictator in the stands, was the Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, who also witnessed a formation of North Korean troops that have fought alongside Russian soldiers against the Ukrainian army in the Kursk region.
A few days ago, Kim sent Russian leader Vladimir Putin a New Year's greeting expressing that their countries' ties had been strengthened through "sharing blood, life, and death in the same trench" in the war in Ukraine.