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.

Beijing has fewer reasons to alienate Pyongyang, turning down chances to openly back disarmament such as a state visit by South Korean president.

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.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended New Year's celebrations in Pyongyang on Wednesday. North Korea's official state media reported Kim's attendance at the event at May Day stadium, which they said was attended by up to 150,

Pyongyang will likely open room for a summit meeting with Washington while excluding dialogue opportunities with Seoul.

The teenage daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has made her first known visit to a sacred family mausoleum where the embalmed bodies of her late grandfather and great-grandfather are on display.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un hailed troops fighting in an “alien land” in a New Year message to soldiers, state media reported Thursday, in which