South Korea’s spy service has told lawmakers that North Korea is preparing for a new round of provocative weapons tests as it ramps up illicit activities to support its fragile economy. A lawmaker cited the National Intelligence Service as saying in a closed-door briefing that North Korea’s economy shrank each year in 2020-2022. The NIS said North Korea is expected to resume weapons tests in response to major U.S.-South Korean military drills that begin next week and a trilateral U.S.-South Korea-Japan summit at Camp David in the United States this Friday.
