The launches of North Korean missiles have involved sanctioned ballistic missiles, anti-warship cruise missiles and cluster munitions.

(EPA Images pic) SEOUL: North Korea is taking advantage of the Middle East war to speed up its weapons development and cement its nuclear status in a world where international norms have broken down, analysts say.

Since US-Israeli strikes on Iran began in late February, North Korea has conducted five missile launches, including four so far in April – the most in a single month since January 2024, according to an AFP tally.

They follow a pledge by leader Kim Jong Un to bolster nuclear forces, as Pyongyang reaps the benefits of deeper ties with Russia and sharpens its invective against US ally South Korea.

The launches "appear to be part of a sophisticated strategy" to balance military upgrades against shifting dynamics between the US, Russia and China, said Lim Eul-chul, a North Korea expert at the South's Kyungnam University.

"The current global security landscape has transformed into a 'lawless zone' where existing international norms no longer function," he said.

"North Korea is exploiting this vacuum...

to complete its nuclear arsenal." Pyongyang has condemned US attacks on Iran as "gangster-like" but is not thought to have supplied arms to Tehran and has notably refrained from directly criticising President Donald Trump, who is expected to visit China for a summit next month.

There has been speculation that Trump may meet Kim around that time.

"With the summit likely to draw attention to the North Korea agenda, Pyongyang may have seized the moment to reinforce its message that it is an irreversible nuclear state," Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told AFP.

However, it also wants to send "a continuous signal that it possesses a fundamentally different deterrent posture from Iran's".

Nuclear options The flurry of missile launches began soon after the Workers' Party congress in February, a once-in-five-year event that directs state efforts.

The timing suggests that North Korea wants to "front-load visible achievements" in its weapons capabilities, Hong said.

At that congress,....