Overview

• North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has overseen a series of missile tests, including the test-firing of a new surface-to-sea missile named Padasuri-6, as part of efforts to enhance maritime security.
• Kim Jong Un has declared South Korea as North Korea's 'principal enemy', threatening war over territorial infringements and refusing to recognize the Northern Limit Line as a maritime border.
• The missile tests are part of a broader pattern of increased weapons testing by North Korea, including cruise missiles, an underwater nuclear weapon system, and a solid-fueled hypersonic ballistic missile.
• Speculation arises that North Korea is testing weapons before potentially supplying them to Russia for use in Ukraine, amid strengthened ties between Pyongyang and Moscow.
• South Korea and the United States have accused North Korea of supplying Russia with weapons, violating UN sanctions, as tensions on the Korean Peninsula remain high.