North Korea fires deadly hypersonic missiles as 'geopolitical crisis' ramps up

According to state media, he said it was "it's a very important strategy to maintain or expand the strong and reliable nuclear deterrent".

Jong Un added that it was necessary because of "the recent geopolitical crisis and various international circumstances".

Though the North Korean leader did not specify what crisis he was referring to, some analysts believe it may have been linked to the US strikes on Venezuela.

The missiles are understood to have hit targets about 1,000 km (621 miles) away, over the sea east of North Korea.

North Korean expert Hong Min, at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, said the missile tests were an apparent response to US strikes on Venezuela.

Mr Min suggested Pyongyang was seeking to emphasise its ability to launch such missiles at any time, something that could make it harder for US-South Korean missile defence systems to preemptively intercept them.

North Korea said in a statement on Sunday it denounced the attacks on Venezuela as "the most serious form of encroachment of sovereignty".

"The incident is another example that clearly confirms once again the rogue and brutal nature of the United States," a spokesman for North Korea's Foreign Ministry said, according to state media.

The US launched "large-scale airstrikes" on the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, at around 1.50am local time (5.50am GMT) on Saturday.

Venezuela's Government said civilians and military personnel died in the strikes.

President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured and transported via helicopter to a US Navy ship offshore before being transported to New York City.

The Venezuelan leader was eventually taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn under a heavy police guard.

Images released by US authorities showed him handcuffed and blindfolded during the flight and later being led down a hallway at the offices of the US Drug Enforcement Administration, where he was heard wishing a "happy New Year".

Maduro was indicted on various federal charges, including narco-terrorism conspiracy.

At a court hearing in the US today, Maduro pleaded not guilty to narcotics charges.

"I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man. I am still president of my country," the 63-year-old said through an interpreter, before being cut off by US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan federal court.

His wife, Flores, also pleaded not guilty, insisting she is "completely innocent".

Maduro was then ordered to appear in court on March 17 for his next hearing.

Maduro’s court appearance follows years of mounting legal pressure from the United States, which first indicted the Venezuelan president in 2020 on charges linked to drug trafficking and narco-terrorism.

US prosecutors allege that Maduro helped lead the so-called “Cartel of the Suns,” accused of conspiring with Colombia’s FARC rebels to flood the United States with cocaine.

The indictment claims Maduro used narcotics trafficking as a weapon against the US, while allegedly accepting millions of dollars in bribes to protect drug routes through Venezuela.

Washington has long accused his government of corruption, human rights abuses and undermining democratic institutions.

Maduro has consistently denied the allegations, dismissing them as politically motivated and part of a broader campaign to remove him from power.

The row came to a head over the weekend as US troops swooped in to seize the Venezuelan leader over the weekend in what was the most significant US military intervention in Latin America since the 1989 Panama invasion.

Maduro has been held at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Centre (MDC) alongside his 69-year-old wife.

They were both placed in solitary confinement away from the general prison population.