North Korea is shutting down more than a dozen embassies around the world, about a quarter of Pyongyang’s missions worldwide.

Kim Jong-un has approved withdrawal from Nepal, Spain, Angola, Uganda and Hong Kong in recent months.

Defectors who were former diplomats claimed that North Korean embassies are largely funded by illegal activity and illicit money-making projects. 

Analysts explained that the North’s recent closing of its diplomatic missions is a sign that the hermit kingdom is struggling to make money overseas due to international sanctions.

Meanwhile, the regime appears to be shifting its efforts into building relations with its allies, Russia and China.

North Korea has recently established a new holiday, marking November 18 as the “Missile Industry Day” to commemorate its successful test launch of its Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile in 2022.

The Hwasong-17 is one of the North’s most powerful weapons to date (estimated to deliver a nuclear bomb and potentially multiple warheads for more than 15,000 kilometers).

Some experts speculate that the regime may have an ulterior motive for designating November 18 as their new holiday – to boost the image of Kim Ju-ae, the potential successor of Kim Jong-un.

According to Cheong Seong-chang of a think tank, Sejong Institute, “given that the Hwasong-17 is neither the first nor the latest ICBM of North Korea, the decision makes little sense,” but “On that day, Kim Ju-ae made her first public appearance with her father at the test site for the Hwasong-17 ICBM,” so “North Korea chose that particular date mainly because its real aim is to boost her presence and build up her image as the next leader.”

South Korea announced that some special tours to the Joint Security Area at the inter-Korean border will restart for selected guests after they have been suspended for four months.

Tours to the Demilitarized Zone (“DMZ”), which have been popular among foreign tourists, were halted after a U.S. soldier’s attempted defection in July.  He was later returned by the North to the U.S. where he faced charges.

From November 22, tours for people with ties to South Korea’s Unification Ministry will take place three times a day, four times a week, though tours for the general public remain suspended.

In the past, DMZ tours were offered six times a day, four times a week.

Officials commented that the Panmunjom Tourist Support Center receives around 20 daily calls inquiring when the tours will resume.

North Korea notified Japan about its plan to launch a third spy satellite as early as midnight on November 22, 2023, despite warnings from South Korea and multiple United Nations resolutions banning the use of ballistic missiles technology.

This announcement came after President Vladmir Putin promised to help Pyongyang build satellites at a meeting with North Korea leader Kim Jong-un in September.

Pyongyang failed to launch its spy satellites twice earlier this year.

If carried out, debris from the rocket is likely to fall into the west of the Korean Peninsula and the east of the Philippines’ island of Luzon. 

Japan will work with South Korea to “strongly urge” North Korea not to go ahead with the launch.