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,

Pyongyang's first test-fire of 2025 came as Blinken, America's top diplomat, met with South Korea's acting President Choi Sang-mok. Choi assumed the interim role after the South Korean Parliament voted to impeach a second president in two weeks.

Japan on Thursday formally inaugurated an independent mission to the NATO military alliance as Tokyo and NATO seek to bolster cooperation amid escalating tension from Russia, China and North Korea.

North Korea last fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile that flew more than 680 miles from the Pyongyang area before splashing down in the Sea of Japan on Jan. 6.

Japanese and South Korean fighters escorted U.S. bombers in the first air power demonstration of the year by the three countries.

The US, South Korea, and Japan warn the tech industry about North Korean hackers using malware and remote IT job scams to orchestrate the crypto heists.

Foreign ministers from South Korea and Japan met in Seoul on Monday to discuss strengthening their relations in the face of increasing security challenges in the region and political tumult in the host nation.

North Korea condemned on Friday joint military drills between South Korea, Japan and the United States held this week, threatening to respond by exercising its right to self-defence "more intensively".

The US, Japan and South Korea are urging public-private collaboration against the growing threat of North Korean hackers, which cost the industry $1.34 billion worth of crypto in 2024.

NATO has deepened its links with Japan and three other Indo-Pacific partners, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea, though not as part of the military alliance.

“Over the course of next year, Putin will likely face mounting domestic problems. Russia’s central bank has forecast economic growth of 0.5 to 1.5 per cent in 2025, down from 3.5 to 4 per cent in 2024, suggesting that the wartime boom may have run its course.”