Pyongyang

The leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un (front) has vowed to speed up the nuclear and ballistic missile programs [Xinhua]
Despite the threat of all-out war with the US and its allies in the Pacific and the weight of new UN sanctions, North Korea is to push ahead with full-scale development of its nuclear and missile technologies.
During the Second Plenum of the 7th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea held on Saturday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said that military development was a key defensive strategy against the US.

Is North Korean leader Kim Jong Un the insane leader of a rogue state as the media makes him out to be? Here, he is addressing the central committee of the ruling Workers’ Party in Pyongyang [North Korean Central News Agency]
News that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, also known as North Korea) on Sunday successfully tested its sixth hydrogen bomb, meant for long-term missile warfare, has brought speculations of a nuclear Armageddon back to the fore.

The 9th BRICS summit in Xiamen, China is not a routine meeting because it comes at a time when the bloc is entering a new stage of intensive development.
Moreover, it is the place for China to demonstrate its new role in international relations and the global economy.
The summit also comes at a time of increased political tensions in different areas, both close to the venue itself – that is, the Korean peninsula – and faraway Syria and the Middle East.

Despite reports of a rift with China in US media, tensions between Pyongyang and Washington appear to have subsided
The war of words between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appears to have subsided this week as South Korean President Moon Jae-in announced he was seeking improved relations with Pyongyang.
During a political rally in Arkansas earlier in the week, Trump claimed that Kim was “starting to respect us” even as the North Korean leader continued to inspect weapons facilities in his country.

(ANTIWAR.COM) — Continuing to hype the threat posed by North Korea, despite their two ICBM tests being eventually conceded to both be failures, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster insisted that the US is fully prepared to launch a “preventative war” against North Korea, to prevent them threatening the US.

South Korea has been keeping its military on high alert since the North began to increase the frequency of its ballistic missile tests and threaten the region [Xinhua]
Newly elected South Korean President Moon Jae-in is set to overhaul Seoul’s foreign policy with particular emphasis on easing tensions with the North.
On Wednesday, Moon appointed prominent university professors Lee Sang-Chul and Kim Ki-jung to the top security advisory positions to help him formulate new policies.

(COMMONDREAMS) In a potential sign of escalating tensions, North Korea has accused the United States and South Korea of having conspired to assassinate its leader, Kim Jong-un, with “biochemical agents.”

(ZHE) A third US citizen has been arrested and remains in custody in North Korea, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.

References:
Dennis Rodman Chills with Kim 
F. William Engdahl on North Korea as a Pentagon Vassal
Lunch with Kim 

A submarine missile is paraded across Kim Il Sung Square during a military parade in Pyongyang, North Korea to celebrate the 105th birth anniversary of Kim Il Sung, the country’s late founder and grandfather of current ruler Kim Jong Un. April 15, 2017. (AP/Wong Maye-E)