North Korean media reported that the country recently conducted a “combined tactical drill simulating a nuclear counterattack by the units for the operation of tactical nukes” on March 18-19. Coverage of the drill included new details about the North’s nuclear command and control system, which sound similar to those used in the US and USSR/Russia. While none of these details can be verified from open sources, they seem within North Korea’s capacity, given its 40+ years of experience with missiles and its apparent access to substantial Russian and Chinese missile technology.

Addressing a ceremony at the Daejeon national cemetery to commemorate the anniversary of West Sea Defense Day, Yoon declared that South Korea would "drastically strengthen our three-axis system in the face of North Korea's nuclear and missile advancements and provocations and will further solidify security cooperation with the United States and also trilaterally with the United States and Japan." His remarks followed North Korea's claim that it had successfully simulated cruise missile attacks and an underwater nuclear drone launch.

Amid rising tensions in the Korean peninsula, North Korea says it has tested a 'secret weapon' that is capable of unleashing a 'radioactive tsunami'. Pyongyang tested an underwater drone in waters off South Hamgyong province.

Tensions are dramatically escalating on the Korean Peninsula, after a series of missile tests from Pyongyang in 2022. The United States and South Korea have responded to these threats with military maneuvers of their own, raising the stakes even further. But this is a recipe for disaster: To avoid an all-out war on the Korean Peninsula, the United States must stop the muscle-flexing, commit to diplomacy instead, and adopt a peace-first strategy.

North Korean state media has been touting new claims of mass enlistments amid "an atmosphere of war" and urgent defense preparedness in response to ongoing joint US-South Korea drills, which are the largest in five years.