The U.S. and South Korea conducted numerous joint military drills in March, including the large-scale Freedom Shield exercise.

North Korea appeared to use the allied exercises to justify a range of missile launches, including another Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), submarine-launched “strategic cruise missiles” and simulated nuclear detonation device tests.

DPRK leader Kim Jong Un also inspected a warhead for tactical nuclear weapons, and the country tested what state media described as an “underwater nuclear attack drone.”

Meanwhile, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed to normalize