This picture taken on March 7, 2024 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on March 8, 2024 shows a joint forces artillery training exercise at an undisclosed location in North Korea. (Photo by KCNA via KNS/AFP Photo)





North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sits inside a tank during a military demonstration involving tank units, in North Korea, March 13, 2024 in this picture released on March 14, 2024, by the Korean Central News Agency. (Photo by KCNA via Reuters)





This picture taken on March 15, 2024 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on March 16 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (centre L) and his daughter Ju Ae (centre R) inspecting a training of the Korean People's Army at an undisclosed location in North Korea. (Photo by KCNA via KNS/AFP Photo)





Schoogirls of Jon U Junior Middle School rehearse for a performance in Moranbong District in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Thursday, March 21, 2024. (Photo by Jon Chol Jin/AP Photo)





New schoolchildren of Ryonhwa Primary School take the first lesson in Central District in Pyongyang, North Korea, Monday, April 1, 2024. (Photo by Cha Song Ho/AP Photo)





People bow to pay tribute to the statues of late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il on Mansu Hill, as part of celebrations marking the 112th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, known as the “Day of the Sun”, in Pyongyang on April 15, 2024. (Photo by Kim Won Jin/AFP Photo)





This picture taken on April 19, 2024 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on April 20, 2024 shows the DPRK Missile Administration conducting a test launch of “Pyoljji-1-2” new-type anti-aircraft missiles in the West Sea of Korea. (Photo by KCNA via KNS/AFP Photo)





This recent undated picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on May 13, 2024 shows North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (bottom L) testing a sniper rifle during a visit to a national defence industrial enterprise at an undisclosed location in North Korea. (Photo by KCNA via KNS/AFP Photo)





This picture taken on May 17, 2024 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on May 18, 2024 shows a test fire of a tactical ballistic missile into which a new autonomous navigation system is introduced in the East Sea of Korea, at an undisclosed location in North Korea. (Photo by KCNA via KNS/AFP Photo)





This picture taken on May 30, 2024 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on May 31, 2024 shows the test-firing of 600mm super-large rocket artillery at an unconfirmed location in North Korea. North Korean state media on May 31 released images of leader Kim Jong Un supervising tests of a multiple rocket launcher system, a day after Seoul accused Pyongyang of firing a volley of short-range ballistic missiles. (Photo by KCNA via KNS/AFP Photo)





Schoolchildren take part during celebrations for the 78th anniversary of the Korean Children's Union (KCU) at the Pyongyang Municipal Youth Park Open-Air Theatre in Pyongyang on June 5, 2024. (Photo by Kim Won Jin/AFP Photo)





A picture of Russia's President Vladimir Putin on a billboard is seen on a buildingon June 18, 2024, in Pyongyang, North Korea. Russian President Vladimir Putin is arriving to North Korea with a two-day visit. (Photo by Contributor/Getty Images)





North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, back to a camera, stands waiting to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Pyongyang Sunan International Airport outside Pyongyang, North Korea, early Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (Photo by Vladimir Smirnov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP Photo)





Russia's President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un attend an official welcoming ceremony at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea on June 19, 2024. (Photo by Gavriil Grigorov/Sputnik/Pool via Reuters)





North Korea's people attend the official welcome ceremony with Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un in the Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (Photo by Vladimir Smirnov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP Photo)





North Korean people line up on the street side and welcome the motorcade of Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during their meeting in Pyongyang, North Korea, 19 June 2024. The Russian president is on a state visit to North Korea from 18-19 June at the invitation of the North Korean leader. He last visited North Korea in 2000, shortly after his first inauguration as president. (Photo by Gavriil Grigorov/EPA/EFE)





People greet the motorcade of Russia's President Vladimir Putin in Pyongyang, North Korea on June 19, 2024. (Photo by Gavriil Grigorov/Sputnik/Pool via Reuters)





Participants attend a rally at the Mayday Stadium in Pyongyang on June 25, 2024, to mark the “Day of Struggle Against US imperialism”, on the 74th anniversary of the three-year Korean War, which began on June 25, 1950. (Photo by Kim Won Jin/AFP Photo)





This picture taken on July 2, 2024 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on July 3, 2024 shows North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (L) inspecting a medical equipment production plant with members of the Party's central leadership organisation at an undisclosed location in North Korea. (Photo by KCNA via KNS/AFP Photo)





People visit Mansu Hill to pay respect to the statues of former leaders, Kim Il Sung, left, and Kim Jong Il on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of demise of Kim Il Sung, in Pyongyang, North Korea, Sunday, July 7, 2024. (Photo by Jon Chol Jin/AP Photo)