North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for bolstering nuclear forces this year during a visit to the country's nuclear material production base and nuclear weapons institute, state media KCNA said on Wednesday.

South Korea 's Yonhap News Agency said North Korea might be using a vertical cold-launch system to fire the missiles. The system, which is commonly associated with submarine- and ship-based weapons, ejects a missile from its container before the missile ignites midair.

The dictator, eager to shut out the influence of Hollywood and K-pop, has been exalting a “shock brigade” of 300,000 teens and 20-somethings drafted into flood reconstruction.

North Korea says it tested a cruise missile system, its third known weapons display this year, and vowed “the toughest” response to what it called the escalation of U.S.

Kim Jong Un, who Trump lauded as a "smart guy," has become Russian President Vladimir Putin’s key ally in a war against Ukraine, providing ballistic missiles, artillery, and 12,000 troops.

U.S. President Donald Trump said in an interview broadcast on Thursday that he plans to seek to engage North Korean leader Kim Jong Un anew after the two men developed a working relationship in Trump's first term.

North Korea has test-fired sea-to-surface strategic cruise guided missiles, the North's state media reported Sunday, quoting Kim as saying that Pyongyang's deterrence means are being perfected.