When it came to global attention, North Korea seemed to take a backseat this year to headline-grabbing events in Ukraine and Israel, from the failed coup against Vladimir Putin to Hamas militants’ attacks.

Yet one would be mistaken to assume that there were no new major developments coming from the DPRK. The country moved toward a post-COVID reopening of its borders, held a major military parade celebrating the Korean War ceasefire and grew closer to Russia than ever before — with reports of Pyongyang supporting Vladimir Putin with weapons shipments.