North Korea Leadership Watch

Research and Analysis on the DPRK Leadership

2023 Chronology of Missile and Military Events

The following is a rolling chronology of ballistic missile events (drills and test firings), military engagement and external military exercises (US-ROK, US-JP and US-ROK-JP) that occur in and around the the Korean Peninsula during 2023.  […]

Feb, 19

March Missile Mania Is Over (and let’s stop predicting #7)

Three events capped off Kim Jong Un’s (Kim Cho’ng-u’n; KJU) March Missile Mania, including his inspection of war heads at the Nuclear Weapons Institute [NWI]. From 25 to 27 March (Saturday through Monday), the DPRK […]

Apr, 04

KJU Supervises Tactical Nuclear Counterattack Drill

The Korean People’s Army [KPA], Missile Guidance Bureau and Nuclear Weapons Institute staged a two-day nuclear command and control [NC2] drill which simulated a tactical nuclear weapons’ counterattack on 18 March (Saturday) and 19 March […]

Mar, 22

Gen Z’s Volunteer for KPA Service

The DPRK’s university students and other young people are volunteering to join, or rejoin, the Korean People’s Army [KPA] with “800,000 youth league officials and students across the country” on 17 March (Friday) and the […]

Mar, 22

Cabinet Ministries Hold Party Committee Meetings

Workers’ Party of Korea [WPK] Committees in DPRK Cabinet Ministries [hereafter, Cabinet Ministry Party Committees] held enlarged plenary meetings last between 14 March (Tuesday) and 17 March (Friday).  Expanded plenary sessions of the Ministry of […]

Mar, 22

2023 Chronology of Missile and Military Events

The following is a rolling chronology of ballistic missile events (drills and test firings), military engagement and external military exercises (US-ROK, US-JP and US-ROK-JP) that occur in and around the the Korean Peninsula during 2023.  […]

Feb, 19

KJU Attends Long Range Missile Drill (updated 17 March)

Kim Jong Un (Kim Cho’ng-u’n; KJU) and his daughter, Kim Ju Ae (Kim Chu-a’e), attended a drill involving the Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile on 16 March (Thursday) at Sunan International Airport in Pyongyang.  The drill […]

Mar, 17

DPRK Cabinet Party Committee holds meeting

The Workers’ Party of Korea [WPK] Committee of the DPRK Cabinet (hereafter, the Cabinet Party Committee) held an expanded meeting on 15 March (Wednesday) as a follow-up to the last Central Committee plenum meeting. DPRK […]

Mar, 16

Artillery Company Drills Medium Rang Missiles

The Korean People’s Army [KPA]’s 11th fire assault company participated in a training drill in Changyo’n County, South Hwanghae on 14 March (Tuesday).  The drill involved launching two ground-to-ground missiles, identified as the DPRK’s version […]

Mar, 15

CMC Holds Meeting

The Workers’ Party of Korea [WPK] Central Military Commission [CMC] met in an enlarged session (or held on an expansion basis) at the WPK Central Committee Office Building on 12 March (Sunday).  Technically, this was […]

Mar, 14

SLCM Launched near Sinp’o

The DPRK fired off submarine-launched cruise missiles during the morning of 12 March (Sunday) from Kyo’ngp’o Bay near Sinp’o, South Hamgyo’ng.  DPRK state media reported that the cruise missile drill used the tester submarine 8.24 […]

Mar, 14
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