Amid the escalating conflict in Iran, North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un, has heightened military drills and missile tests. Analysts suggest this move is designed to project domestic confidence and international defiance, capitalizing on global attention being drawn away from the region.

As the war on Iran continues to command global attention, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has stepped up his appearances at military events, using drills and missile tests to project confidence at home and defiance abroad. His heightened visibility suggests that Kim feels more secure in his country’s nuclear deterrence as Washington’s focus is pulled in several directions, analysts say. Kim has cast himself as increasingly assertive and is distancing himself from the symbolic rituals observed by...