North Korea warned Friday that it would exercise its right to self-defense "more intensively" as it condemned recent joint air drills among South Korea, the United States and Japan.

North Korea denounced the United States for sending military aircraft over the Korean peninsula several times this month, as well as the U.S., Japan and South Korea for holding an air military exercise,

A South Korean lawmaker said Seoul's intelligence showed some 3,000 North Korean troops have been wounded or killed in Kursk.

Russia signed a strategic partnership treaty with Iran on Friday that follows similar pacts with China and North Korea. All three countries are adversaries of the United States, and Russia has used its ties with them to help blunt the impact of Western sanctions and boost its war effort in Ukraine.

The launch event came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was visiting Seoul for talks with South Korean allies over the North Korean nuclear threat and other issues.

South Korea’s military says North Korea has test-fired multiple missiles toward its eastern waters in its second launch event of 2025.

North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea on Tuesday, Seoul's military said, in a provocation just days before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

That the provocations exchanged between the Koreas – leaflets, balloons, and noise – were of relatively low intensity should give no one a sense of security.

North Korea condemned on Friday joint military drills between South Korea, Japan and the United States held this week, threatening to respond by exercising its right to self-defence "more intensively".

While South Korea experiences historic domestic political turmoil, Kim Jong Un and his regime continue to threaten peace and stability in the region and pose a direct threat to the U.S. homeland.