Asia in 2026 will be more volatile as a fragile Trump–Xi thaw masks worsening U.S.-China relations, pressure on Taiwan intensifies and a more confident Kim Jong Un leverages nuclear advances and Beijing-Moscow ties. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2026/01/02/world/buckle-up-asia-for-a-volatile-year/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #worldnews #northkorea #china #kimjongun #xijinping #donaldtrump #chinausrelations #taiwan #defense
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has praised his troops fighting abroad as forging an "invincible alliance" with Russia in a new year's message, state media said Thursday. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/01/01/asia-pacific/north-korea-kim-russia-letter/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #northkorea #russia #russiaukrainewar #ukraine #kimjongun
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has toured a factory making new multiple rocket launchers that could target South Korea, touting their ability to "annihilate the enemy," state media has reported. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/30/asia-pacific/north-korea-rocket-launchers/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #northkorea #missiles #kimjongun
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the test-firing of long-range surface-to-air missiles at a launch site near its east coast, state media has reported. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/25/asia-pacific/north-korea-long-range-missiles/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #northkorea #southkorea #kimjongun #nuclearweapons #missiles #us #submarines
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended a welcoming ceremony for an army engineering unit that had returned home after carrying out duties in Russia, the North's Korean Central News Agency reported Saturday. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/13/asia-pacific/kim-hails-north-korea-troops/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #northkorea #russia #ukraine #russiaukrainewar #kimjongun
North Korea fired a barrage of artillery from a multiple rocket launcher system, South Korea's military said, as Pyongyang kicked off a key meeting of its ruling party top brass. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/10/asia-pacific/north-korea-artillery-salvo/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #northkorea #southkorea #kimjongun #leejaemyung
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un announced the country's air force will be equipped with "new strategic military assets," state media said Sunday — https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/30/asia-pacific/north-korea-kim-air-force/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #northkorea #missiles #nuclearweapons #defense #kimjongun
North Korea's defense minister warned Saturday of more "offensive action" as Washington and Seoul criticized Pyongyang's latest ballistic missile launch. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/08/asia-pacific/north-korea-warns-offensive-action/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #northkorea #missiles #kimjongun
South Korea's spy agency thinks there is a high possibility that North Korea and the United States will hold a summit, and has suggested that Pyongyang may pursue a meeting after March, a lawmaker has said. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/05/asia-pacific/politics/south-korea-kim-trump-meeting/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #politics #southkorea #northkorea #us #kimjongun #donaldtrump #russiaukrainewar #russia #defense #submarines
Kim Yong Nam, the only person outside of the ruling Kim family dynasty to serve as North Korea's nominal head of state, has died, state media reported Tuesday. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/04/asia-pacific/politics/kim-yong-nam-obituary/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #politics #kimyongnam #kimjongun #northkorea #obituaries
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi revealed Monday that she has told North Korea of her desire to hold a summit with leader Kim Jong Un, as time runs out for families of Japanese nationals abducted by Pyongyang decades ago. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/03/japan/politics/takaichi-north-korea-kim-summit/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #northkorea #northkoreajapanrelations #sanaetakaichi #kimjongun #abductions
U.S. President Donald Trump’s expressions of opening for talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have been met, so far, with silence — and tests of nuclear-capable missiles. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/29/asia-pacific/north-korea-missile-trump/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #northkorea #nuclearweapons #missiles #donaldtrump #kimjongun #defense #southkorea
U.S. President Donald Trump has stoked speculation that he could meet nuclear-armed North Korea’s leader during his trip to Asia next week, saying he is “open” to holding talks with Kim Jong Un. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/25/asia-pacific/politics/trump-kim-north-korea-meeting/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #politics #donaldtrump #us #northkorea #southkorea #nuclearweapons #kimjongun
Experts say that while the U.S. president may look to return to talks with the North Korean leader, he’s unlikely to convince him to give up his nukes through summitry. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/24/asia-pacific/politics/trump-kim-meeting-analysis/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #politics #us #northkorea #donaldtrump #kimjongun #nuclearweapons #missiles #southkorea #leejaemyung
Tours to the truce village of Panmunjom, which straddles the two Koreas, will be halted later this month amid rising speculation about a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/20/asia-pacific/politics/kim-trump-dmz-tours/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #politics #northkorea #southkorea #donaldtrump #kimjongun #apec #nuclearweapons
U.S. officials are privately discussing a potential meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during the U.S. president's upcoming Asia visit, CNN reported on Saturday. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/18/asia-pacific/politics/us-officials-trump-kim-meeting/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #politics #us #donaldtrump #northkorea #kimjongun
North Korea has displayed its next-generation Hwasong-20 ICBM, showcasing the new weapon during a military parade in front of leader Kim Jong Un and senior officials from China and Russia. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/11/asia-pacific/north-korea-hwasong-20-missile/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #northkorea #missiles #nuclearweapons #kimjongun #defense
Chinese Premier Li Qiang will visit North Korea for celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of its ruling Workers' Party of Korea later this week, Beijing and Pyongyang announced Tuesday. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/07/asia-pacific/politics/north-korea-china-li-qiang/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #politics #northkorea #china #kimjongun #liqiang #missiles #defense #nuclearweapons #donaldtrump #russia
Vietnam's Communist Party chief To Lam will travel to North Korea this week, marking the first visit by a Vietnamese leader to the largely isolated nation in nearly 20 years. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/06/asia-pacific/politics/vietnam-leader-north-korea/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #politics #vietnam #northkorea #kimjongun
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country has deployed "special assets" in response to what he called Washington's arms build-up in the South, state media reported Sunday. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/05/asia-pacific/north-korea-special-assets/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #northkorea #southkorea #us #kimjongun #nuclearweapons #missiles #donaldtrump #usmilitary
