Kim jong un
North Korea's Kim pledges to strengthen nuclear arsenal
Kim is looking to grab the attention of the incoming Biden administration, analysts say, with his country more isolated than ever after closing its borders to...
Donald Trump's bizarre diplomatic engagement with Pyongyang veered from mutual insults and threats of war to "love letters" and the first ever meeting between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader.
Authorities held the rally on Monday at the start of an '80-Day Campaign', a mass mobilisation drive to boost the economy ahead of a ruling party congress in January.
On Saturday North Korea put a gargantuan new missile on show at a military parade.
Pyongyang closed its borders in January to try to protect itself from the disease and regularly said it had no cases.
The official KCNA news agency made no mention of any fatalities and Kim gave an upbeat assessment of the storm's aftermath as he inspected a farming region southwest of Pyongyang.
An enlarged meeting of the politburo of the Workers Party took place amid a pandemic that is putting additional pressure on the North Korean economy, battered by recent border closures and flood damage.
Kim Yo Jong is the leader’s only close relative with a public role in politics, recently spearheading a new, tougher campaign to put pressure on South Korea.
The relationship between the pair has been a key driver of recent diplomacy between Washington and Pyongyang, veering from mutual insults and threats of war to a declaration of love from Trump.
Heavy rain across the Korean peninsula has brought flooding to both North and South Korea in recent days, and concern is growing about damage to North Korean crops and its potential impact on food supplies.
Kim said in her personal opinion, there is unlikely to be another summit between leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump this year but “a surprise thing may still happen".
The nuclear-armed North closed its borders in late January as the virus spread in neighbouring China and imposed tough restrictions that put thousands of its people into isolation.
Kim Yo Jong is one of her brother's most trusted advisers and among the most powerful women in the isolated regime.
The North reported that Kim had attended the opening of a fertiliser factory and released pictures it said showed the leader cutting a ribbon at the ceremony on Friday.
CNN, quoting what it said was an anonymous US official, reported that Washington was "monitoring intelligence" that Kim was in "grave danger" after undergoing surgery.
Speculation about Kim’s health first arose due to his absence from the anniversary of the birthday of North Korea’s founding father and Kim’s grandfather, Kim Il Sung, on 15 April.
The 'multiple projectiles' fired from Munchon in the east of the country were believed to be 'short-range cruise missiles', the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
Trump closes 2019 with a stain as the third president in US history to be impeached yet also with perhaps his two biggest achievements on the international stage - the US commando raid that killed the leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and a new trade pact with Canada and Mexico.
The announcement of Saturday's test came just hours after Donald Trump said he would be 'surprised' by any hostile action from the North, emphasizing his 'very good relationship' with Kim Jong Un.