North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met Russia's top presidential security adviser Sergei Shoigu in Pyongyang on Tuesday and discussed a "special military operation" in the Kursk region bordering Ukraine,

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held a meeting with Russia's Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu, the North's state media confirmed Wednesday, saying that Kim affirmed Pyongyang's cooperation with Moscow under their mutual defense treaty.

During the launch ceremony the previous day, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to rapidly strengthen the country's navy by building two destroyers per year to deter aggression, with the third and fourth ships of the new Choe Hyon class planned for 2026.