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,

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.

Mr. President, North Korea poses growing challenges to US national interests. You should initiate again an open-ended diplomatic process with Kim in which you are ready to trade sanctions relief for verifiable nuclear concessions.

John Kirby, White House national security communications adviser, said of Hegseth's remarks on North Korea's status as a nuclear power: "We've not made such a recognition. I can't speak to what the incoming team will—how they'll characterize it. We've not gone so far as to make that recognition."

Trump defense secretary nominee Pete Hesgeth ruffled feathers in S. Korea with his written statement to the Senate panel overseeing his confirmation

North Korean troops, unacknowledged by their own country, are getting chewed up in a vicious war in which, far from home, they are “cannon fodder” fighting anonymously on behalf of the Russians.

The aircraft, also known as Cobra Ball, joined another RC-135S, the 62-4128, which missed the recent North Korean missile launch by a few hours. This is the second time since early December last year that the U.S. military has stationed two Cobra Ball aircraft at Kadena.

The loose arrangement of hostile powers could pose a series of conundrums for President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of state.

As political changes loom, South Korea's leadership crisis could affect ties with China, Japan and the US, observers say With the fate of suspended South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol hanging in the balance,

As Trump takes office, issues of arms control, the U.S. arsenal and weapons testing will be on the radar for many nuclear weapons researchers.

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. Presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping met in Beijing on Feb.