North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends what state media reported was a launching ceremony for a tactical nuclear attack submarine, in this picture released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency on Sept. 8.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea abandoning 30-year quest for U.S. ties, expert says

Isolation has pushed Kim Jong Un closer to China and Russia

7 November 2023
Media cameras are seen outside North Korea's embassy in Malaysia in 2021.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea turns further inward with embassy closures

Former diplomat says moves signal tightening of ties with China and Russia

2 November 2023
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with Russia's Vladimir Putin in September. (KCNA via Reuters)
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea prepares to launch spy satellite with Russian aid

South Korea intelligence service says North likely traded shells for rocket tech

2 November 2023
The second summit this year between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, pictured here in Beijing on Oct. 17, underscored their close ties.
The Nikkei View

China-Russia challenge to the global order cannot be allowed

Autocratic countries overlook violence while undermining stability and freedom

25 October 2023
Tourists look toward North Korea from an observatory on the South Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone, Oct. 18, 2023. (Photo by Steven Borowiec) 
Asia Insight

Hamas' Israel assault reverberates on tense Korean border

Experts see new security jitters in South, no obvious chance of DMZ escalation

24 October 2023
Joseph Nye, a former U.S. assistant secretary of defense, says Washington should be wary of concluding that "we've reached 'peak China.'" He was speaking at the CSIS/Nikkei symposium on Oct. 20 in Tokyo. (Photo by Satoko Kawasaki)
Defense

U.S. must hold on to its 'One China' policy, Joseph Nye says

At Tokyo forum, Japan's defense minister calls on Beijing for 'dialogue'

20 October 2023
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects the new submarine in this photo released by the country's Central News Agency on Sept. 8. (KCNA via Reuters)
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea's new submarine puts focus on nuclear counterattack

Evidence casts doubts on capabilities, but expert says that's beside the point

13 October 2023
North Korea attempts to launch what it described as a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit in May.
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea indicates spy satellite 'indispensable' to its security

Third launch attempt could come within weeks, after failures earlier this year

11 October 2023
Kim Jong Un watches a naval vessel test-fire a cruise missile. (KCNA via Kyodo)
Aerospace & Defense Industries

North Korean hackers target South Korea's shipbuilding tech

Seoul detects new cyberattacks amid Kim Jong Un's push for stronger navy

6 October 2023
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa says she would "continue to convey the prime minister's determination" on talks with North Korea's Kim Jong Un. (Photo by Uichiro Kasai)
Interview

Japan still wants summit with North Korea: foreign minister

Top diplomat seeks to lay groundwork for talks on abductions between Kishida, Kim Jong Un

3 October 2023
Set 10 years after reunification, "2035" follows a crew of journalists as they travel the country interviewing people. (Photo courtesy of the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival)
Arts

Korean reunification becomes horror-comedy film plot

Park Jae-in's mockumentary "2035" aims to make audiences shudder and giggle

30 September 2023
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov addresses the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Sept. 23. Russia's aggression against Ukraine is exposing problems with how the global body operates.
The Nikkei View

U.N. reform urgently needed to better promote peace

Security Council dysfunction threatens global security

27 September 2023
Tanks drive along a street during a military parade in Seoul on Sept. 26. (Photo by Ahn Seong-bok) 
Defense

South Korea shows off military hardware in display of might

Swaggering parade of weaponry comes as Seoul rises as an arms exporter

26 September 2023
Estonian President Alar Karis says that the growing relationship between Russia and North Korea "doesn't make us very happy." (Photo by Mana Yumi)
Interview

Russia-North Korea nuclear cooperation danger to all: Estonian president

Karis calls on international community to step in against weapons development

22 September 2023
Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a meeting at the Vostochny Сosmodrome in Russia's far eastern Amur region on Sept. 13
The Nikkei View

Russia-North Korea military ties are cause for concern

Democracies must work together to counter authoritarian coercion

20 September 2023
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, second from right, with Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East on Sept. 13. (Kremlin via Reuters)
Comment

Kim's Russian spaceport visit: The rocket science of hiding poverty

North Korean leader and Putin use each other to compensate for weaknesses

20 September 2023
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un waves from a private train as he departs Pyongyang to visit Russia on Sept. 10 in this image released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency on Sept. 12.
International relations

North Korea's Kim Jong Un enters Russia for summit with Putin

Leaders expected to discuss arms sales as Moscow struggles in war on Ukraine

13 September 2023
North Korea's Kim Jong Un, left, and Russia's Vladimir Putin attend a reception after meeting in Vladivostok in 2019. They are expected to meet again in the coming days. (Photo by KCNA via Reuters)
Comment

Russia risks further isolation by courting North Korea

Efforts to boost war effort could undo Moscow's rapport with emerging countries

12 September 2023
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pose for a photo during their meeting in Vladivostok, Russia, in April 2019.
International relations

North Korea's Kim to visit Russia for talks with Putin

Leaders set to discuss arms deals, say U.S. officials

11 September 2023
Russian President Vladimir Putin awaits the head of Myanmar's junta at the 2022 Eastern Economic Forum: The forum now looks like a rogues' gallery of the world's worst regimes. (Pool via Reuters) 
Opinion

Putin's Pacific party is over if Kim Jong Un is guest of honor

Even China's top leaders now snub Vladivostok's Eastern Economic Forum

9 September 2023
South Korean and U.S. soldiers stand guard in the truce village of Panmunjom inside the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea.
N Korea at crossroads

South Korea overhauls Unification Ministry amid harder line on North

Revamp prioritizes intelligence and resolving abductions over cooperation

6 September 2023
North Korean leader Kim Jong visits the training center of the General Staff Department of the Korean People's Army in an undisclosed location in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency. 
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea drills for South occupation in message to U.S., Seoul

Show of force in response to joint military exercises between allies

1 September 2023
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter attend a photo session with the scientists, engineers, military officials and others involved in the test-fire of the country's new Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile in this undated photo by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency. (KCNA via Reuters)  
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea most likely player to use nuclear arms: ex-U.S. spy

Markus Garlauskas says Kim Jong Un's risk calculus is different from Russia's

26 August 2023
Passengers watch a TV news report on North Korea's rocket launch, the second since May to fail, at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea, on August 24.
N Korea at crossroads

South Korea to share North Korea launch info with Japan and U.S.

Seoul follows through on trilateral pact after Pyongyang satellite attempt fails

24 August 2023
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed to tackle North Korean cyberthreats at a Camp David summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Aug. 18.
N Korea at crossroads

South Korea prepares to take fight to North Korea's hackers

Yoon administration to get proactive after years of defensive posture

24 August 2023