North Korea has reported 21 new deaths and 174,440 more people with fever symptoms as the country scrambles to slow the spread of COVID-19 across its unvaccinated population.
North Korea has confirmed its first COVID-19 outbreak, calling it the country's "biggest emergency incident", with leader Kim Jong-un ordering a lockdown.
North Korea has fired a ballistic missile, South Korea's military says, three days before the inauguration of South Korean president-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, who has vowed to take a hard line against the North.
Nuclear-armed North Korea has conducted what would be its largest missile test since 2017, sending a suspected intermediate-range ballistic missile soaring into space and sparking condemnation from the United States and its allies.
A senior US diplomat has urged North Korea to refrain from additional missile tests and to resume nuclear diplomacy, days after the North fired its first underwater-launched ballistic missile in two years.
North Korea has accused the United States of raising military tensions with China through its "reckless" backing of Taiwan, and said the growing US military presence in the region constitutes a potential threat.
North and South Korea are in talks to reopen a joint liaison office that Pyongyang demolished last year and hold a summit as part of efforts to restore relations, three South Korean government sources say.
The North Korean and Chinese leaders have expressed their desire to further strengthen their ties as they exchanged messages marking the 60th anniversary of their countries' defence treaty.
