North Korea dispatched its highest-ranking official to the U.N. General Assembly since 2018 for this year’s General Debate, an appearance that highlighted just how dramatically the DPRK’s approach to the international body has changed in the intervening years.

In a speech at the U.N. headquarters in New York, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Son Gyong declared that the DPRK’s nuclear status is irreversible, sharply condemned U.S. military exercises with its Asian allies and bragged about how military strength has driven economic progress.

While Kim’s remarks covered well-worn territory for Pyongyang's