Earlier this month, North Korea sent more than 1,600 trash-carrying balloons to South Korea that landed at 778 sites across the country.

The locations include South Korea’s capital city of Seoul, the eastern province of Gangwon and the southeastern city of Gyeongju.

Pyongyang had previously warned that it would launch “100 times” the filth if balloons containing anti-North Korean propaganda continue to be sent from activists in the South.

Concerns were raised in relation to whether the balloons could be used for possible biological or chemical weapon attacks in the future.

The South Korean military responded by broadcasting anti-Pyongyang propaganda with loudspeakers near the DMZ for the first time in six years.

North Korea is expected to welcome more tourists as it prepares to open a beach resort on the east coast after several years of construction delays.

According to satellite images collected by Planet Labs, the Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Area began its construction works in 2018 and appeared “mostly finished” in early 2020, before the pandemic “complicated plans for opening.”

The resort includes hotels, shops, car parks and even a turtle-shaped arena.

Russian tour companies have been told that the resort will open soon but no further details have been revealed yet.

However, propaganda authorities within the country have been promoting the resort to its domestic audiences, which suggests that it could open up soon.

According to South Korean newspaper, JoongAng Ilbo, representatives from Japan and North Korea recently met in Mongolia, despite Pyongyang’s public refusal to talk with Japan.

The representatives include delegates from North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bureau and foreign currency sectors, as well as a politician from a prominent Japanese family.

Issues concerning Northeast Asian security were discussed at the Ulaanbaatar Dialogue, though the Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshimasa Hayashi, refrained from giving further detail about the meeting.

Pyongyang appears to be exploring a “breakthrough economically and diplomatically” at a time when bilateral relations are tense with Tokyo, whose government is demanding news about the fate of Japanese citizens who were allegedly kidnapped by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s to train North Korean spies in Japanese language and customs. 

North Korea has sent at least 10,000 shipping containers that hold as many as 4.8 million artillery shells to Russia.

According to Bloomberg News, Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin, will likely visit Pyongyang soon to seek for more arms.

Putin’s visit would mark his first trip to the North since July 2000.

In return, Russia aided North Korea by supplying the reclusive state with technology to deploy an array of spy satellites and arms such as tanks and aircraft.

Pyongyang has allegedly spent about $1 billion USD on missile tests last year, which represents around 4 percent of North Korea’s economy.

Meanwhile, the U.S. and other countries have accused North Korea of sending weapons to Russia for use against Ukraine.