Global Scans · Kim Jong-Un · Weekly Summary

• North Korea said that it will no longer seek reunification and reconciliation with South Korea as leader Kim Jong Un declared that his country vows to place three new military spy satellites into orbit in 2024. WION
• An acceleration of North Korea's nuclear weapons program as part of a new Cold War with the U.S. has been viewed by some, including Western leaders, as an unrealistic threat that has perhaps emboldened North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to be more aggressive. Newsweek
• North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un said earlier this week that its first military spy satellite will be launched at an unspecified date. The Week
• North Korea has opened its most important political event, where leader Kim Jong Un is expected to map out his domestic and foreign policy agenda for the next five years and further entrench his family's authoritarian rule. WRAL
• Even in 2023, one U.S. intelligence assessment has been that Kim Jong Un would continue to be a bellicose neighbour for South Korea and an unpleasant member of the global community - but was unlikely to actually wage nuclear war at least through 2030. EL PAIS English
• North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wants to pressure the United States into accepting North Korea as a legitimate nuclear power and hopes to negotiate an easing of sanctions from a position of strength. AP News
• A green-water fleet could allow North Korea to more aggressively contest the Northern Limit Line, the de facto inter-Korean maritime boundary in the Yellow Sea that Kim Jong Un has described as illicit and lawless. American Enterprise Institute - AEI
• New satellite images show what could be North Korea's largest ship ship - possibly more than double the size of any ship in the leader Kim Jong Un naval fleet. World Stock Market
• Emerging from years of isolation, North Korea may pursue active diplomacy in 2026, including the resumption of dialog between leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump after a ruling party congress expected to be held early 2027. Japan Wire by KYODO NEWS
• Pyongyang has likely avoided mentioning recent decapitation operations against Iran and Venezuela to avoid spreading the idea that Kim Jong Un could similarly be abducted or killed, and to avoid contradicting its propaganda that the United States is weak. American Enterprise Institute - AEI
• Beyond China, North Korea under Kim Jong Un is continuing to advance its rapidly developing nuclear and missile programs, which are a threat to Japan. Japan Forward
• With the two hostile states framework now embedded in the WPK charter, and Kim Jong Un declaring that North Korea will not cling in the least to dialog and cooperation with South Korea, existing inter-Korean agreements appear to have lost their practical force. Daily NK English
• Kim Jong Un called on North Korea's shipbuilding industry to produce two new DDGs per year as part of the current five-year plan, hypothetically bringing North Korea's total DDG count to 12 by 2030. American Enterprise Institute - AEI
• Kim Jong Un may be aiming to transform the KPA Navy into a green-water navy, which could improve North Korea's sea lines of communication defence and allow it to increase military intimidation against regional rivals. American Enterprise Institute - AEI
• A new light water-nuclear reactor at the North's main nuclear complex, together with shrill rhetoric from the North's leader, Kim Jong-un, marks the beginning of what looks like a dangerous new era of threats and counter-threats on the Korean peninsula. The New York Sun
• Leader Kim Jong Un held a ceremony to unveil the deployment of 50 new launch vehicles for nuclear-capable short-range missiles threatening rival South Korea as he flaunted his expanding military capabilities ahead of a major ruling party congress. FDD
• North Korea has opened its most important political event in which leader Kim Jong Un is expected to map out his domestic and foreign policy agenda for the next five years and further entrench his family's authoritarian rule. WRAL
• North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been issuing belligerent statements toward South Korea, including a declaration that he would abandon the North's long-term objective of reconciliation with its war-divided rival and threatening to annihilate the South with nukes if provoked. The Independent
• North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is widely expected to up the ante in the coming weeks or months as he continues to accelerate a campaign aimed at cementing the North's status as a nuclear power and eventually negotiating U.S. economic and security concessions from a position of strength. Voice of America (VOA News)
• Economic recovery could embolden Kim Jong Un and decrease the likelihood that he engages the United States and South Korea diplomatically. American Enterprise Institute - AEI

Last updated: 21 June 2026