ABSTRACT The intensification of North Korea’s military posture in August 2025 marks a critical turning point in the security architecture of Northeast Asia. During an inspection aboard the Choe Hyon-class destroyer in Nampo on August 18, 2025, Kim Jong Un instructed the Korean People’s Army Navy to adopt nuclear arming as a central deterrence mission, … Leggi tutto North Korea’s Strategic Naval Nuclearization and the August 2025 Directive of Kim Jong Un Amid U.S.–South Korea Military Exercises