North Korea’s latest spirited defence of its nuclear arsenal signals a strategy that goes beyond rejecting international calls to disarm and instead leans into mounting global superpower rivalry to legitimise its weapons build-up. The verbal offensive comes as North Korea could soon face renewed pressure to return to the negotiating table. Analysts say the winding down of the Iran conflict may allow Washington and its allies to refocus attention on the Korean peninsula. Pyongyang has also seized...
China expanded its nuclear warhead stockpile over the past year and might have increased the number deployed with operational forces, a Swedish think tank report said, warning that major powers were “walking away” from disarmament commitments. According to the report released on Monday as part of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s (SIPRI) latest yearbook, China added 20 warheads to its nuclear stockpile as of January 2026, bringing the total to 620, up from 600 a year...