North Korea threatened the United States with a nuclear response

^{Photo: Reuters}
North Korea has doubled its efforts to increase its nuclear capabilities, threatening to use "strategic assets" to counter military cooperation between the US and South Korea. This was reported by Daryo, citing Newsweek news.

The publication notes that Pyongyang is believed to possess a limited number of intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of striking targets across North America. A senior representative of the US Air Force warned that any attack of this kind would have dire consequences.

According to a statement from the North Korean Ministry of Defense's information department, the administration of US President Donald Trump has already "activated US provocations that threaten the security of the DPRK."

The report emphasizes that enhancing the combat capabilities of the DPRK armed forces based on nuclear deterrence is a fair and inevitable option to "counter the strategic threats from the US and other enemies with strategic assets."

At the beginning of February, Japan's NHK television reported that North Korea plans to develop drones in collaboration with Russia this year.

^{Photo: Reuters}
According to sources from the publication, the countries have reached an agreement whereby the DPRK will receive technical assistance from Russia to create several types of drones for mass production.

Additionally, sources indicate that the agreement was made in exchange for sending North Korean soldiers to assist Russia in its attacks against Ukraine. However, the sources noted that Russia does not wish to assist the DPRK in developing nuclear weapons.

Russia and DPRK Cooperation

Russia and North Korea began to strengthen military cooperation after the war began. In June 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited North Korea and signed a comprehensive strategic agreement that included mutual support in the event of an attack, as well as cooperation against Western sanctions.

The Ukrainian army captured two North Korean soldiers in the Kursk region. President Vladimir Zelensky released a video on January 12 showing them being interrogated. During the interrogation, the North Korean soldiers stated that they did not know where they were and that they were told it was just a training exercise.