A senior North Korean diplomat is reiterating that his country won't give up its nuclear weapons despite numerous international demands to do so. Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly meeting of world leaders, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Son Gyong characterized his country's nuclear weapons as crucial to keeping a "balance of power" with South Korea. Kim amplified his country's longstanding complaints about U.S.-led military exercises with South Korea and Japan. He complained about "growing threat of aggression" from Washington and its allies. South Korea has said the exercises were necessary to counter North Korea's growing nuclear and missile threats. Numerous U.N. Security Council resolutions have demanded that the North stop building nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will make a rare trip abroad next week to attend a military parade in the Chinese capital, North Korean and Chinese state media said Thursday. With Russian President Vladimir Putin also coming for the parade, the event will underline the three-way alignment among Beijing, Moscow and Pyongyang. China will hold the parade on Wednesday to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. No leaders from the United States or major Western European countries are expected, in part because of their differences with Putin over the war in Ukraine. China borders North Korea and is its closest ally.

South Korea's military says North Korea sent around 3,000 additional troops to Russia in January and February in continued support for Russian President Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine. The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea has also been sending more missiles, artillery equipment and ammunition to help Russia. The Joint Chiefs also said they had assessed that 4,000 of the approximately 11,000 military personnel North Korea has sent to fight in the war against Ukraine have been killed or wounded. Separately, North Korea said leader Kim Jong Un observed tests of newly developed reconnaissance and attack drones this week and called for their increased production. It was the latest display of his country's growing military capabilities.

South Korea's military says North Korea has fired several ballistic missiles into the sea. The launch Monday happened hours after South Korean and U.S. troops kicked off their large annual combined drills, which the North views as an invasion rehearsal. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile firings, North Korea's fifth missile launch event this year, were detected from the North's Hwanghae province but gave no further details such as how far they flew. Earlier Monday, the South Korean and U.S. militaries began their drills. The exercises began after the South Korean and U.S. militaries paused live-fire training while Seoul investigates how two of its fighter jets mistakenly bombed a civilian area during a warm-up drill last week.

Ukraine's military intelligence says North Korean troops are suffering heavy losses in Russia's Kursk region and face logistical difficulties as a result of Ukrainian attacks. The intelligence agency said Thursday that Ukrainian strikes near Novoivanovka inflicted heavy casualties on North Korean units. Ukraine's president said earlier this week that 3,000 North Korean troops have been killed and wounded in the fighting in the Kursk region. It marked the first significant estimate by Ukraine of North Korean casualties several weeks after Kyiv announced that North Korea had sent 10,000 to 12,000 troops to Russia to help it in the almost 3-year war.

Ukraine's military intelligence agency and the Pentagon say some North Korean troops have been killed during combat against Ukrainian forces in Russia's Kursk border region. These are the first reported casualties since the U.S. and Ukraine announced North Korea has sent 10,000 to 12,000 troops to Russia to help it in the almost 3-year war. The Ukrainian agency said Monday that around 30 North Korean troops were killed or wounded over the weekend during battle in Kursk, where Russia has for four months been trying to quash a Ukrainian incursion. The Pentagon press secretary says some North Korean troops have died in combat but didn't have a specific number of those killed or wounded.