North Korea stands in its "strongest strategic position" in decades, a U.S. intelligence report showed Friday, as the recalcitrant regime has been doubling down on its pursuit of advanced weapons that can threaten U.

North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un said a new naval destroyer was damaged in a "serious accident and criminal act caused by absolute carelessness."

Kim Jong Un was reportedly enraged by the "sheer carelessness" leading to the botched launch of the regime's second destroyer.

On Wednesday, local media were given access to the Korea Air and Space Operations Center (KAOC), a highly secured command post located within Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, about 60km south of Seoul.

On Tuesday, South Korean military officials announced that North Korea likely received help from Russia to develop a new air-to-air missile — a missile fired from an aircraft to destroy another aircraft — which is the kind of advanced weaponry that South Korea is attempting to build by 2032.

An economic theory has sparked controversy during South Korea's presidential campaign, with the opposition leader introducing a classic economic metaphor called the "hotel economy."

South Korea's military says North Korea fired multiple cruise missiles toward the sea from the east coast of the Korean Peninsula on Thursday morning.

Pyongyang is dependent on the world's second-largest economy, but the "blood-cemented alliance" doesn't extend to security issues.