• This picture taken on March 20, 2025, and released by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on March 21, 2025, shows a test-fire of the latest anti-aircraft missile system to examine its comprehensive performance at an undisclosed location in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (KCNA VIA KNS/AFP)

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) announced on Friday that it had test-fired a new weapons system aimed at enhancing its combat readiness, coinciding with a visit to Pyongyang by Russia’s top security official for talks with leader Kim Jong Un.

Russia and the DPRK have strengthened their alliance since the outset of the Ukraine war, with Seoul accusing Pyongyang of sending thousands of troops and shipping containers filled with weapons to support Moscow’s military efforts against Kiev.

While neither Moscow nor Pyongyang has officially confirmed the deployment of DPRK troops, the two nations signed a broad-ranging military agreement last year during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rare visit to the DPRK. The pact includes a mutual defense clause, underscoring deepening military cooperation.

On Friday, Russian news agency TASS reported that Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu was in Pyongyang for talks, marking the latest in a series of high-level diplomatic exchanges between the two countries.

Shoigu conveyed Putin’s “greetings and best wishes” to Kim and praised last year’s strategic partnership treaty, stating it fully meets the interests of both nations.

Meanwhile, Kim oversaw the launch of the DPRK's latest anti-aircraft missile system, as reported by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), though the precise timing of the test was not disclosed.

Kim stated that the successful test demonstrated that his country's military is now equipped with “another major defense weapon system with laudable combat performance,” according to KCNA.

The announcement came just a day after South Korea concluded its annual joint military exercise with the United States, known as Freedom Shield, which Pyongyang condemned as a “rehearsal of war of aggression.”

The DPRK has long been hostile to joint military drills between the US and South Korea. Last week, Seoul reported that Pyongyang had fired “multiple unidentified ballistic missiles” following the start of the Freedom Shield exercises, which involved US troops stationed in South Korea.

In February, the DPRK also conducted a test launch of strategic cruise missiles in the Yellow Sea, asserting that the test demonstrated its “counterattack capabilities”.

This year’s Freedom Shield exercises included a coordinated drill specifically designed to counter threats from weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear, chemical, biological, and radioactive hazards.

Relations between the DPRK and South Korea remain at their lowest point in years, with Pyongyang conducting numerous ballistic missile tests in violation of UN sanctions throughout last year.

South Korean and Western intelligence agencies have claimed that over 10,000 DPRK troops were deployed to Russia last year to support Moscow in repelling a surprise Ukrainian offensive in the Kursk border region.

Seoul’s intelligence agency recently indicated that Pyongyang has sent additional soldiers and redeployed troops to the frontlines in Kursk.

Additionally, South Korea has accused the DPRK of supplying weapons to Russia. A recent report from Seoul’s defense ministry stated that the DPRK was "continuing to provide weapons, ammunition, and other military support to Russia following its troop deployment in the Ukraine war."

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