Category: North Korea

The money the Kim regime has made selling tungsten has made up 1/3 of its exports to China this year:

North Korea earned a windfall from soaring tungsten prices, largely thanks to China’s tighter export controls on the mineral in the first half of this year, but the gains were too small to offset a sharp slide in its currency and rising inflation, a report showed.

Between January and May, North Korea’s exports to China rose to $287 million, up 68 percent on-year from about $171 million. Tungsten ore accounted for $88 million, or nearly one-third of the total, according to a report released last week by the US-based monitoring website 38 North.

According to the report, North Korea’s tungsten exports by value showed an almost tenfold jump year-on-year. The mineral also overtook wigs and false hair to become the country’s largest export to China.

The increase, however, was driven mostly by higher prices rather than greater shipments.

Tungsten export volume rose only about 15 percent, while the average unit value surged from around $8 to nearly $70 per kilogram. The report estimated that higher prices accounted for about 98 percent of the increase in export earnings.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

I hope the Kim regime keeps pouring their limited resources into a prestige project that will be immediately sunk during any contingency:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has overseen tests of strategic cruise missiles and other weapons from a new 5,000-ton naval destroyer, ordering the warship to be commissioned into the Navy within two months, state media reported Sunday.

Kim observed tests of cruise missiles, naval artillery, automatic guns and electronic warfare means from the destroyer Kang Kon on Friday, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

In June last year, North Korea launched the destroyer Kang Kon, about one month after it had tipped over during its initial launch attempt.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is likely being done not for deterrence reasons, but as leverage during any future negotiations:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said his country was “equipping the Navy with nuclear weapons,” state media reported Wednesday, as he also unveiled plans to build 10,000-ton warships.

The remarks came at the commissioning of the Choe Hyon — one of two 5,000-ton class warships the nuclear-armed state launched last year — in the port city of Nampo on Tuesday, the official Korean Central News Agency reported.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

None of this should be a surprise to anyone:

This footage from the Korean Central Television aired on June 15, 2026, shows advertising boards for South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co. shown during the state-run North Korean outlet’s coverage of the FIFA World Cup. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

North Korea’s state media excluded games involving South Korea, the United States and Japan from its apparently unauthorized coverage of the ongoing FIFA World Cup matches.

The North’s state-run Korean Central Television aired four- to six-minute broadcasts on the results of the World Cup group-stage matches at the end of its daily evening newscasts from Monday through Thursday but excluded the results of games involving the three countries.

The North, however, aired footage that showed pitch-side advertising boards for South Korean and U.S. companies, such as Hyundai Motor Co., The Coca-Cola Company and McDonald’s.

In the past, the North often blurred images related to South Korea and the U.S. in broadcasts of major sports events, such as advertising boards of companies from the two countries and the South Korean national flag.

The North Korean broadcaster included major scenes from the World Cup matches in its coverage, raising suspicions the North aired them without authorization.

North Korean state media outlets are not among the media rights licensees authorized by FIFA to broadcast the World Cup games.

The North appears to have been excluded from the broadcasting rights for the ongoing World Cup after it aired matches from the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand without authorization.

The outlet has ceased broadcasting scenes from the ongoing World Cup since Friday.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

At this point all these global politicians must understand that North Korea is never going to denuclearize, but they just have to keep up the facade to deter others like Iran from pursuing nuclear weapons:

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Thursday denounced international calls for denuclearization, describing the country’s nuclear weapons as its “core interests” and denuclearization as a “line of no retreat that can never be crossed,” Pyongyang’s state media reported.

In a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim Yo-jong criticized the United States and its allies for making what she called “anachronistic” demands for North Korea’s denuclearization.

Kim’s remarks came in response to a joint statement issued by leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) nations at their summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, on Wednesday, which reaffirmed their commitment to the “complete denuclearization” of North Korea in line with U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It appears the U.S. and Japan are remaining committed to achieving the fantasy of a denuclearized North Korea:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (front R) inspects a newly launched nuclear material production facility at an unspecified location on June 3, 2026, in this image captured from the website of North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency the next day.

The United States and Japan reiterated their commitment to the “complete denuclearization” of North Korea and rejected Russia’s notion that Pyongyang’s pursuit of nuclear arms was a “closed” issue, as they held key defense talks in Tokyo this week, according to a joint statement.

The allies held the bilateral Extended Deterrence Dialogue at Japan’s foreign ministry on Monday and Tuesday as they seek to reinforce security cooperation in the face of China’s growing assertiveness and North Korea’s advancing nuclear and ballistic missile threats.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

If Kim Jong-un wants to improve relations with Xi, strongly stating support for the One China Policy is a way to do it:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said Monday deepening ties with China is his country’s top policy priority, as he held summit talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Pyongyang, according to a report.

The Kim-Xi talks came hours after the Chinese leader arrived in Pyongyang for his first state visit in nearly seven years.

Developing friendship between the North and China is “the people’s choice and the calling of the times,” China’s Xinhua News Agency quoted Kim as saying during the talks with Xi.

Kim said Pyongyang viewed the development of mutual ties as the country’s “most important strategic priority.”

With the international community “going through unprecedented, grand change,” he reaffirmed Pyongyang’s support for Beijing’s “One China” principle and pledged to keep helping safeguard China’s core interests, according to the report.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The North Korean regime has been saying this for years and feel the need to say it yet again:

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said her country’s status as a nuclear-armed state is absolutely irreversible, calling it a “line of no retreat” and vowing not to tolerate any threats against it, the North’s state media reported Sunday.

Kim Yo-jong made the remarks in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), in which she reiterated Pyongyang’s position that its nuclear weapons program is nonnegotiable while rejecting international efforts aimed at denuclearization.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Trump may want to engage with North Korea, but as long as they are allied with Putin they have no reason to engage back:

U.S. President Donald Trump (R) walks with Chinese President Xi Jinping after visiting Zhongnanhai Garden in Beijing on May 15, 2026, in this photo released by AFP. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday he discussed North Korea with Chinese President Xi Jinping during their summit in Beijing this week, as he has expressed his desire to reengage with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Trump made the remarks in a meeting with reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Washington after a three-day visit to Beijing.

“I did,” he said, responding to a question about whether he talked about North Korea during his meeting with Xi.

“You know, I have a very good relationship with Kim Jong-un. He’s been pretty quiet,” he added.

Asked if he has had any communications with Kim, Trump said, “Yes.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.