This is why the Russians hurried to seize the Kuril Islands after World War II and have refused to give them back, it is all about keeping the Sea of Okhotsk a giant Russian lake:

A Russian government source said the document obtained by Kyodo News was drawn up sometime after this summer. It remains unknown whether the plan was approved by Putin. Russian media recently reported on the envisioned military buildup in the area.
By setting up a defense line around the islands in the Sea of Okhotsk, Russia is aiming to keep foreign vessels out of the waters where its nuclear submarines are deployed, while also securing the free navigation of the Russian Pacific Fleet, which is headquartered in Vladivostok.
According to the document, new shore-to-ship missiles systems called the Bastion, with a range of more than 300 kilometers (over 180 miles), and the Bal, with a range of over 130 km (over 80 miles), will be deployed on six islands and on the Kamchatka Peninsula.
Missile systems were deployed in 2016 on Etorofu and Kunashiri, two of the four islands and islets off Hokkaido that are claimed by Japan.

Japan Times

You can read more at the link.

No way. This is a joke, right? https://t.co/SNkVqtAwCT

— Robert E Kelly (@Robert_E_Kelly) December 31, 2018

My guess would be is that North Korea is sending out the telemetry data not as a test of anything but rather as a warning to the Trump administration to hurry up and drop sanctions or testing will begin again:

North Korea has continued its development of intercontinental ballistic missiles despite declaring a halt to launches, having conducted a missile-linked radio wave experiment early this month, it has been learned.
Despite sanctions limiting the North’s petroleum supply, the North Korean military is continuing to train at its usual levels. In response, the Japanese and U.S. governments plan to increase their surveillance of smuggling and other activities on the high seas, according to military and diplomatic sources.
North Korea conducted a launch test of its radio telemetry, which is transmitted from equipment in a missile’s components such as a warhead. When a ballistic missile is launched, telemetry provides essential information about the missile’s angle, location, speed and other factors to observers on the ground.
In 2016 and 2017, North Korea launched about 40 missiles, including ICBMs. Ground-based telemetry tests are often conducted prior to an ICBM launch, and are considered an important sign of an impending missile launch.

Yomiuri Shimbun

You can read more at the link.

There may be a lot of internal infighting in the White House that has led to a number of personnel changes, but at least no one is being sent to a concentration camp or shot which is what happens with senior leader disputes in North Korea:

Kim Yong-chol visited the White House early last June. Trump provided him with state-of-the-art security, including a number of trained bodyguards and his own Cadillac. Satisfied with the letter from Kim Jong-un’s letter that Kim Yong-chol delivered, Trump went so far as to walk him back to his car to see him off.

A couple of weeks later, Kim’s political profile hit an all-time high during the North-U.S. summit in Singapore, in which he stood next to leader Kim Jong-un. 

According to the source that leaked Kim Yong-chol’s secret meeting with Andrew Kim, “Meeting Pompeo when he visited North Korea and his visit to Singapore with leader Kim were Kim Yong-chol’s way to solidify his position as a negotiator.” This was most likely the reason why he tried to strike a deal with the United States. 

That meeting with Andrew Kim may have been a step too far, and it was only a matter of time before Kim Yong-chol’s request reached the ears of high-ranking North Korean officials, namely Choe Ryong-hae – who is far more frequently described as the second most powerful man in the North. According to an official who recently visited North Korea, “The Workers’ Party is looking into Kim’s recent request and the problematic issues that occurred because of it.” This “looking into” could be interpreted as Choe’s attempt to eliminate or at least curb Kim Yong-chol’s boosted political influence. 

Experts are pointing out how Choe’s recent actions mirror the steps he took to eliminate Hwang Pyong-so, then director of the Army’s General Political Bureau. In October 2017, Choe implemented an internal investigation of Hwang and the political bureau he was in charge of. This investigation uncovered the supposed fact that Hwang disregarded orders and fabricated reports that were sent to Kim Jong-un. Hwang had to step down from his position as second in command and was ordered to spend time in a concentration camp. Experts say Choe was exacting revenge from Hwang, who took his position in 2014. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read much more at the link.

This could get ugly very quickly if the South Korean government decides to forcibly seize assets from Japanese companies to pay for these court rulings:

South Korean victims of forced labor during Japan’s colonial rule have begun taking steps to seize the assets held in South Korea by a Japanese firm implicated in the Japan’s wartime crime. 

The lawyers for Lee Chun-sik and three other South Koreans forced to work for Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corporation recently asked a local court in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province to issue a writ of execution to have the company’s assets in the country seized. 

The company reportedly holds eleven billion won worth stocks of PNR, a joint venture with POSCO. 

In late October, South Korea’s Supreme Court had ordered the Japanese firm to compensate the four victims 100 million won each. 

Following the top court’s decision, the victims’ lawyers requested that the company answer how it will compensate, but has yet to give a reply.

KBS World Radio

The major issue here is that the Japanese government says that all compensation claims were paid for with the 1965 pact that saw $500 million from Japan given to South Korea. The ROK government at the time could have compensated everyone back then with that money, however it was instead used for the overall development of the country such as improving infrastructure.  

The money ultimately helped with the country’s economic development at the expense of direct compensation to those effected by Japan’s colonial rule.  This is why Japan is so strongly against the court rulings they feel they have already paid compensation for.

With that all said when is the ROK government going to launch lawsuits on behalf of victims of North Korea’s kidnappings and provocations in far more recent times than Japan’s colonial rule that began over a century ago?

The new format/setting of KJU's NYD address is trying to show he/NK is a modern, normal country and no longer the backward, hermit kingdom. I knew it wasn't live. Then saw evidence: the clock behind him keeps jumping time and its face gets covered too 👀😅 https://t.co/WVfLDUgCgT

— Duyeon Kim (@duyeonkim) January 1, 2019

The most interesting fact about this alleged defection is that he chose to not defect to South Korea. That should be an indication to everyone of how little trust potential defectors have in the Moon administration:

South Korea’s spy agency says it has yet to make contact with North Korea’s top diplomat in Italy, who has vanished from the public for months in a reported bid to seek asylum. 

According to Representative Kim Min-ki of the ruling Democratic Party, the National Intelligence Service(NIS) told him that Acting North Korean Ambassador to Italy Jo Song-gil has gone into hiding with his wife since leaving the North Korean diplomatic mission in Rome early November. 

The NIS said Jo began his stint in the North Korean mission in Italy in May of 2015 as third secretary, and was later promoted to first secretary, adding his term in Italy was set to expire at the end of November. 

Asked whether he thinks Jo will seek asylum in a third country rather than in the South, the South Korean lawmaker said it is easy to guess, citing the NIS’ comment that it had no contact with him since he disappeared. 

KBS World Radio

It will be interesting to see where Jo Song-gil ultimately ends up. If he comes to America will this be something the Trump administration will make known or keep quiet to not upset North Korea? I guess we will eventually find out.

The President’s newest pen pal has sent him another letter:

U.S. President Donald Trump said that he is ready to help North Korea reach its “tremendous economic potential” after revealing Wednesday at the White House that he received a letter from the North’s leader Kim Jong-un. 

“I just got a great letter from Kim Jong-un,” Trump told reporters at his first Cabinet meeting of the new year. He displayed what appeared to be a three-page letter without elaborating its content, which he said he has shown to only a “few people.”

In his New Year’s address Tuesday, Kim said he is ready to meet with Trump again “anytime.” Kim reiterated his commitment to “complete denuclearization” and pledged that North Korea will not make, test, use or proliferate nuclear weapons. 

“We had our meeting six months [ago] in Singapore,” said Trump, recalling his first summit with Kim on June 12. “We’ll probably now have another meeting. He’d like to meet, I’d like to meet.”

“I look forward to our meeting with Chairman Kim,” said Trump. “We’ll be setting it up in the not-too-distant future.”

Joong Ang Ilbo

The contents of the letter were not released, but I am willing to bet it is just more of the same empty promises that are part of the Kim regime’s “pretend denuclearization” strategy.