Overview

• State media billed the Hwasong-20 as the country’s most powerful nuclear-capable system and part of a force able to reach the entire U.S. mainland.
• Independent assessments cited in coverage note unresolved questions about the missile’s guidance accuracy and warhead reentry survivability.
• Kim Jong-un used his speech to praise troops and suggest North Korean “heroism” will be shown beyond national defense in overseas posts.
• Russian Security Council official Dmitry Medvedev and China’s premier Li Qiang attended, and Kim met Medvedev to pledge deeper cooperation, according to KCNA.
• Reports describe North Korean personnel fighting alongside Russia in Ukraine, with South Korea estimating hundreds of North Korean fatalities and thousands wounded.