At least eight North Korean ships that left Russia with a cargo of fuel this year headed for their homeland despite declaring other destinations, a ploy that US officials say is often used to undermine sanctions.
US President Donald Trump warns that the United States will be forced to “totally destroy” North Korea unless Pyongyang backs down from its nuclear standoff, mocking North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as a “rocket man” on a suicide mission.
Gasoline and diesel prices rise sharply in North Korea after its sixth nuclear test and as the UN Security Council imposed new sanctions capping fuel supply, market data analysed by Reuters shows.
North Korea fires a ballistic missile over Japan and into the Pacific, responding to new UN sanctions with what appeared to be its furthest-ever missile flight amid high tensions over its weapons programmes.
The United States submits a new North Korean sanctions resolution to the UN Security Council, toning down its demands less than 24 hours before a vote, diplomats say, as it seeks to bring China and Russia on board.
North Korea's missile programme is a source of deep concern for the international community. The country's missile programme started with Soviet designed Scud missile, with its first batch reportedly coming via Egypt in 1976.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warns of a global catastrophe unless a diplomatic solution is reached over North Korea, but rejects US calls for more sanctions as "useless", widening a split among major powers over how to rein in Pyongyang.
South Korea says it is talking to the United States about deploying aircraft carriers and strategic bombers to the Korean peninsula after signs North Korea might launch more missiles in the wake of its sixth and largest nuclear test.
Japan is debating whether to develop a limited pre-emptive strike capability and buy cruise missiles — ideas that were anathema in the pacifist country before the North Korea missile threat. With revisions to Japan’s defense plans underway, ruling party hawks are accelerating the moves, and some defense experts say Japan should at least consider them.
North Korea fires a ballistic missile in an apparent bid to test the South's new liberal president and the US which have both signalled an interest in negotiations to ease months of tensions.
A North Korean missile "blows up almost immediately" on its test launch, the US Pacific Command says, hours before US Vice President Mike Pence was due in South Korea for talks on the North's increasingly defiant arms programme.
North Korea's missile tests are more intense, frequent and accurate, say experts.
