North Korean leader Kim Jong Un cited the need for Pyongyang to maintain a powerful nuclear deterrent in its first ballistic missile test of the year.

The test also appears to indicate Pyongyang’s objection to South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s visit to Beijing.

Relations with Beijing will also improve considerably. North Korea will seek normalisation of trade relations and economic assistance from China, while China will attempt to manage conflict escalation on the Korean Peninsula. Both China and Russia are likely to show a more tolerant attitude towards North Korea’s nuclear weapons status.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung will meet Monday with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing, with closer economic ties as well as the recalcitrant North on the agenda.Lee is the first South Korean leader to visit Beijing in six years and his meeting with Xi comes a day after the nuclear-armed North fired two ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan.

Decorations celebrating the New Year adorned the North Korean capital on Thursday. North Korea strictly controls religion, so seasonal holidays are presented as neutral, unless they are domestic celebrations of the ruling family or traditional Korean cultural dates.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung will meet Monday with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing, with closer economic ties as well as the recalcitrant North on the agenda.Lee is the first South Korean leader to visit Beijing in six years and his meeting with Xi on Monday came a day after the nuclear-armed regime in Pyongyang fired two ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan.