North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile from the Wonsan area toward the East Sea on August 6, 2026, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff; it was Pyongyang's first ballistic missile launch since late June, when it tested a tactical missile with a 'special mission' warhead; the launch comes days before the US and South Korea are due to begin their annual summer joint military exercises
The spread of nuclear weapons beyond the five original powers, now covering nine states and 12,187 warheads globally, and the defining fault line of post-Cold War security diplomacy.
full dossier ›Japan held the 81st atomic bombing memorial at Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park on August 6, 2026, with a record 123 countries and the EU attending; Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, in her first appearance as Japan's leader, reaffirmed the three non-nuclear principles as the government prepares to revise key security documents; Hiroshima mayor Kazumi Matsui warned that 'downplaying the inhumanity of nuclear weapons' risks another Hiroshima or Nagasaki; the US ambassador did not attend; China used the anniversary to catalogue Japan's rearmament; North Korea's Kim Yo Jong threatened 'additional military options'; and a record 128 Japanese local assemblies have petitioned the Diet to hold the line
Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, warned on August 5 that Pyongyang would not remain a 'passive onlooker' as Japan expands its military capabilities; she cited Japan's test-firing of long-range cruise missiles and participation in US-led military drills, and accused Tokyo of reviving the ambitions of a 'war criminal state'
China detains US seismologist Youlin Chen, who studied North Korean nuclear tests, on spying charges
China has held Youlin Chen, a Chinese-born American seismologist whose US-funded research helped detect North Korean nuclear tests, for nearly two years; Chen faces trial on spying charges, according to a Reuters exclusive, in a case the Japan Times says adds an irritant to US-China relations as US President Donald Trump seeks to keep ties steady
Nine states hold roughly 12,200 warheads; three are racing to modernize with no bilateral treaty in force since February 2026.
The process that raises uranium's fissile U-235 concentration for reactor fuel or weapons, a dual-use chokepoint central to the Iran nuclear standoff and Russia-West fuel decoupling.
The US pledge to use nuclear weapons on behalf of non-nuclear allies, shaping proliferation choices in South Korea, Japan, and Europe as Chinese and North Korean arsenals grow.
North Korea's hereditary Supreme Leader since 2011, Kim Jong-un has transformed the DPRK into a declared nuclear power and reset its foreign alignment toward Russia while rejecting denuclearisation.
The 2010 US-Russia strategic-arms treaty that capped deployed warheads at 1,550 and ran an on-site inspection regime until its lapse in February 2026, ending 50 years of bilateral nuclear limits.
Eight months on, the IAEA still cannot verify 440 kg of 60% HEU stored at Isfahan; Tehran says it has not resumed enrichment
North Korea reveals a fresh uranium-enrichment hall, likely a third site, as Kim says weapons-grade output has more than doubled in five years
Reuters finds 80+ launch pads, bunkers and octagon command sites near the Hami ICBM silos
Moscow could upload hundreds of warheads but, four months on, shows no large-scale breakout
Beijing says the US and Russia must cut their far larger arsenals first before China sits at any table
A US deal could permit Saudi enrichment while a new defence pact with Pakistan reopens old proliferation fears
The last treaty capping the two largest arsenals expired 5 February 2026 with no successor and no inspections