SEOUL — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to lift living standards as he opened a landmark congress, state media said on Friday, offering a glimpse of economic strains within the sanctions-hit nation.

North Korea’s Kim Jong Un took the wheel of a nuclear-capable multiple rocket launcher at a ceremony in the capital Pyongyang, according to the country’s state media, and touted the weapon as among the most powerful of its type in the world.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is projecting newfound confidence and optimism as thousands of its uniparty delegates flood Pyongyang for their semi-decennial congress. As usual, the tightly calibrated,

New intelligence assessments and a string of public appearances by Kim Jong Un’s young daughter are fueling speculation that North Korea.

North Korea on the 19th released a photo showing 50 upgraded 600 mm super-large multiple rocket launchers, described as a "gift for the 9th Workers’ Party Congress" by military industry workers, lined up in front of the April 25 House of Culture, the ...