A U.S. government official said Tuesday that there has been no change yet in the United States' policy toward North Korea, amid questions over whether President Donald Trump's recent reference to North Korea as a "nuclear power" signaled any policy shift.

North Korea said Sunday it tested a cruise missile system, its third known weapons display this year, and vowed “the toughest” response to what it called the escalation of U.S.-South Korean military drills that target the North.

South Korea 's Yonhap News Agency said North Korea might be using a vertical cold-launch system to fire the missiles. The system, which is commonly associated with submarine- and ship-based weapons, ejects a missile from its container before the missile ignites midair.

North Korea's foreign ministry vowed the "toughest counteraction" against the United States as long as Washington "refuses" the country's sovereignty.

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The dictator, eager to shut out the influence of Hollywood and K-pop, has been exalting a “shock brigade” of 300,000 teens and 20-somethings drafted into flood reconstruction.

All North Korean recruits are taught a song that includes a verse about saving their last bullet for themselves to avoid capture, one former soldier told NBC News.

Hyunseung Lee, a former soldier who fled North Korea, told BI that those sent to fight against Ukraine have "zero relationship with modern warfare."

As President Donald Trump begins his second term, many are expecting him to revive his relationship with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. CNN’s Will Ripley reports.

North Korea announced it had performed a test of its cruise missile system on Saturday. It was the communist country’s fourth known missile launch since November and the second in less than a week since President Donald Trump ’s inauguration.

North Korea says it tested a cruise missile system, its third known weapons display this year, and vowed “the toughest” response to what it called the escalation of U.S.