Latest news with #KimJongUn
Al Jazeera
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
‘North Korea is now a more important ally for Russia than Iran or China'
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wept as he threw himself over the coffin of a soldier draped in the national flag, one of six or so who were lined up in a row. Photographs of him mourning were shown at a gala performance at a theatre in Pyongyang late last month, celebrating the anniversary of a mutual defence pact signed by Kim and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. The soldiers had been killed in action fighting alongside Russian forces in the war against Ukraine. While Ukraine's NATO backers have refused to deploy boots on the ground, North Korean fighters have participated in fierce battles over the region of Kursk in western Russia, partly occupied by a Ukrainian counteroffensive. 'North Korea is now a more important ally for Russia than Iran or China,' said Oleg Ignatov, senior Russia analyst for Crisis Group. 'North Korea supplies Russia with ammunition and some types of heavy weapons. As for the North Korean soldiers, Russian sources say they are professional and disciplined. At the beginning of the Kursk operation, they lacked the modern combat skills required for this type of war, which involves the use of large numbers of drones, but they quickly adapted.' Looking ahead, there are signs that the Russian-North Korean alliance is advancing. Two weeks ago, Ukrainian intelligence sources told CNN that North Korea was planning to triple its deployment along the front lines with Ukraine by dispatching up to 30,000 more soldiers. Russia welcomes the additional manpower as, according to a count kept by the Russian independent outlet Mediazona and the BBC, Moscow's army has suffered more than 116,000 losses since launching a full-scale war on its neighbour in 2022. Some observers say North Korea, a famously isolated nation, also has plenty to gain. 'From a military operations point of view, North Korea now has had on-the-ground exposure to modern warfare, which South Korea does not,' said Rachel Minyoung Lee, a senior fellow with the Stimson Center's 38 North and POSCO fellow with the East-West Center. 'From a policy point of view, North Korea's improved ties with Russia give Kim Jong Un greater strategic manoeuvrability, due to immediate benefits like Russia's oil and wheat shipments and possible transfers of military technology to North Korea – to the longer-term opportunities that Kim Jong Un appears to see by nurturing this relationship.' She added that this all gives North Korea 'little to no incentive to engage the United States, much less South Korea'. 'North Korea's relationship with Russia gives Kim stronger leverage vis-a-vis China, which could have broader regional implications in the longer term,' she said. Russia has reopened long-dormant supply chains to the North, ignoring international sanctions. 'The countries have resumed traffic along the Khasan-Tumen line,' Neimat Khalilov, a political scientist and member of the Digoria expert club, told Al Jazeera, referring to the Russian border with North Korea. 'Russia supplies coal, fertilisers and iron ore via railway crossings, while [North Korea] supplies seafood and rare earth metals … Separately, it is worth noting the modernisation of the [North Korean] port of Rajin, which is taking place with the participation of the Russian Federation. The goal of the project is to make the port an alternative to South Korean hubs, thereby increasing cargo flow through Vladivostok to North Korea.' 'A qualitatively new phase' The modern state of North Korea owes its existence to the Soviet Union, which routed Japanese colonial troops occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula at the end of World War II, while US forces did the same in the south. A Soviet and Chinese-backed Communist state was established, and the USSR remained a close ally throughout the Cold War. But after the USSR collapsed in the early 1990s, North Korea lost its crucial backer and a vital source of aid, plunging the country into a catastrophic famine. Relations with the new Russia were not hostile, but not particularly close. In the 2000s and 2010s, Russia even joined the global sanctions aimed at curbing North Korea's nuclear programme and alleged human rights abuses. However, Khalilov said, 'With the start of the SMO [the war in Ukraine, which is known as a 'special military operation' in Russia], they entered a qualitatively new phase.' Pyongyang made its position clear from the beginning of the war in early 2022, as one of only five governments to vote against condemning Moscow's invasion at an emergency session of the UN. The others were Belarus, Eritrea, Syria and Russia itself. 'In 2023, former Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu visited the DPRK, and a few months later, as part of the North Korea-Russia summit, DPRK leader Kim Jong Un made an official visit to Russia, where he held talks with Vladimir Putin,' said Khalilov. 'Particular attention is drawn to the change in rhetoric: joint statements increasingly include formulations about 'common values' and 'strategic partnership'.' Khalilov noted that the deployment of about 15,000 North Korean forces on the Kursk battlefield was provided for by Article 4 of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, signed by Putin and Kim last June. This allowed one country to provide 'military and other assistance' to the other in case of foreign invasion. The Kremlin initially denied claims made late last year by Ukraine and South Korean intelligence that North Koreans were fighting alongside Russian troops. The Russian command appeared to have undertaken some effort to hide it. In December, The Guardian reported that North Korean soldiers wounded in Kursk were being treated in secret at Russian hospitals, while the soldiers were issued fake IDs identifying them as ethnic minorities from Russia's Far East, should they die on the battlefield. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that North Korean soldiers risked being executed by their own side if capture was imminent. It was only in April that Russia and the North officially confirmed that their troops were fighting side-by-side, with Putin thanking 'our Korean friends' for acting out of 'solidarity, a sense of justice, and true comradeship' during the battle for Kursk. At the same time, Kim praised his soldiers on their 'sacred mission.' Russian officials have since promised North Korea that soldiers killed would be honoured in Kursk by erecting monuments and renaming streets after them. Political scientist Fyodor Krasheninnikov has suggested the initial secrecy was sustained at North Korea's request. 'They have their own internal logic – their own propaganda, their own ideology,' he told the exiled Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta. 'They needed to fit this into their domestic messaging. I think they asked the Russians not to bring it up. And once they figured out how to spin it at home, they decided the time had come to say, 'Yes, that was us.''
Bloomberg
20 hours ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
How North Korea Is Giving Russia an Edge in the War on Ukraine
By and Soo-Hyang Choi Save Without the involvement of North Korea, Russia's war in Ukraine might have taken a different turn. The infusion of weaponry and troops provided by Kim Jong Un's regime has helped Russia to repel Ukrainian forces from its soil and keep up the relentless bombardment of Ukrainian towns and cities. North Korea has likely received military aid in return, increasing the threat posed by the isolated nation to the US and its allies in East Asia. Russian President Vladimir Putin long treated North Korea with ambivalence, maintaining relations while viewing Pyongyang as a potentially destabilizing influence in Russia's vast backyard. But the alliance they struck up in recent years is proving to be an effective riposte to the sanctions imposed on both nations by Western powers.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
The Ethically Dubious Soup Kim Jong-Un Loves To Dine On Is Illegal In The US
Among the many notorious and weird facts about North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un is his taste for extravagance and taboo delicacies. One of the most controversial dishes he's reportedly fond of is shark fin soup, a once-celebrated luxury in some East Asian cultures that has become a global symbol of animal abuse and environmental destruction. In 2022, after years of pressure by animal welfare and ocean nonprofits, Congress passed the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act of 2021, making it illegal to possess or sell shark fins in the United States due to the brutal methods used to harvest the fins and the devastating consequences for marine ecosystems. Shark fin soup has a long history in Chinese imperial cuisine, where it symbolized wealth, power, and prestige. The soup is made using the fins of sharks, which are prized for their texture rather than their flavor. To meet the demand for this status symbol, the inhumane practice of "finning" became widespread: Sharks are caught, their fins sliced off while they're still alive, and their mutilated bodies are often thrown back into the ocean. Shark meat itself is also unsustainable, but receives less attention, unless it's the Icelandic fermented shark that Anthony Bourdain refused to eat ever again. Some shark species have seen population drops of more than 90% in recent decades. Conservationists warn that removing apex predators like sharks from the oceans will destabilize entire ecosystems, yet the demand for shark fin soup continues in some parts of the world, fueled by tradition and status. Read more: 10 Cheap Fish That Are Absolutely Not Worth Buying Kim Jong-Un's love of shark fin soup is emblematic of the North Korean regime's tendency to flaunt excess, even as most of the country suffers from devastating food insecurity and economic hardship. According to reports from defectors and international observers, the North Korean elite enjoys access to expensive delicacies like Kobe steaks, caviar, and champagne . Serving shark fin soup at state banquets or private gatherings isn't just about taste — it's Jong-Un's way to signal dominance and privilege. Kenji Fujimoto, a Japanese sushi chef who served the Kim family for over a decade, described making the soup for the political family after he defected to Japan in 2001. In an interview with Japanese media, he stated, "They both like shark fin soup three times a week." Fujimoto's stories don't stop there; he describes flying to Iran to pick up caviar, Denmark for beer, and Japan for fish. Nothing was too good for the family of Korean dictators. Many American chefs and restaurants have voluntarily removed shark fin soup from their menus in response to legal pressure and growing public awareness of its cruelty. Chef Gordon Ramsey avoids the soup at all costs after starring in an investigative documentary about the brutal practice. In a country where food is weaponized and extreme poverty is widespread for everyday people, the presence of a controversial luxury dish like shark fin soup reveals a lot about Jong-Un's values and power plays in Pyongyang. For more food and drink goodness, join The Takeout's newsletter. Get taste tests, food & drink news, deals from your favorite chains, recipes, cooking tips, and more! Read the original article on The Takeout.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Kim Jong Un's North Korean military is a greater threat to the U.S. after improvement from months spent fighting in Ukraine
Kim Jong Un's military has 'hugely improved' its nuclear and conventional warfighting abilities after six months of fighting against Ukraine. North Korea has used the conflict as a testing ground to refine its combat strategies, according to an intelligence assessment shared with The London Times. Experts believe the country's army now poses a much greater threat to South Korea and the U.S. troops stationed there, having honed the accuracy of its ballistic missiles, developed drone warfare capabilities and accelerated modern arms production. North Korea's comprehensive military alliance with the Kremlin was secured by Kim Jong-un offering 'unconditional support' to Russia during a visit by Sergey Lavrov, the foreign minister, over the weekend. Lavrov was seen hugging Kim as he thanked him for sending troops to the Ukraine war. According to the assessment prepared by the HUR, Ukraine's military intelligence arm, 'co-operation with Russia has offered North Korea broad opportunities to modernise its armed forces.' The statement added that North Korea's involvement in the war has allowed it to gain 'real experience in modern warfare, develop nuclear missile capabilities, establish production of advanced weapon systems, strengthen its naval forces, and enhance intelligence-gathering capabilities.' It said the country's cooperation with Russia 'significantly increases the threat to the U.S. and its regional allies - South Korea and Japan.' The report states it is 'highly likely' that North Korea's readiness to use military force in its foreign policy will increase in the future. It said this is down to the 'lack of a strong response' from from the US and its allies to the country sending troops to fight Ukraine. North Korea first confirmed it has soldiers fighting alongside the Russians in Ukraine in April. At least 9,500 North Korean troops have reportedly been used in 'human wave' attacks on Ukrainian paratroopers in Russia's Kursk region Pyongyang will send 1,000 sappers and 5,000 military construction workers to help secure the Kursk after Ukrainian troops were driven back, Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia's Security Council, announced last month. About 4,000 North Korean troops have already been killed or wounded in the conflict, the intelligence report says. The HUR expects 30,000 more North Korean troops to be deployed in the coming months. It came after Russia's foreign minister was seen hugging Kim Jong Un on Saturday as he expressed his gratitude to the dictator for sending troops to the Ukraine war. Speaking in Wonsan, a new beach resort in North Korea, Sergey Lavrov also encouraged his fellow Russians to visit the rogue state on holiday. Relations between North Korea and Russia have flourished in recent years with Kim supplying troops and ammunition to Ukraine's frontlines in return for economic and military help. This has raised concerns in the West that Russia might also send sensitive technologies to North Korea that could increase the danger of its nuclear program. As well as a meeting with Kim, foreign minister Lavrov also held talks today with his North Korean counterpart Choe Son Hui. During their meeting, Choe reiterated that North Korea 'unconditionally' supports Russia's fight against Ukraine. Lavrov, meanwhile, repeated Russia's gratitude for the contribution that North Korean troops made in efforts to repel a Ukrainian incursion into Russia's Kursk region. Wonsan city, the meeting venue, is where North Korea recently opened a mammoth beach resort that it says can accommodate nearly 20,000 people. In his comments at the start of his meeting with Choe, Lavrov said that 'I am sure that Russian tourists will be increasingly eager to come here. 'We will do everything we can to facilitate this, creating conditions for this, including air travel,' according to the Russian Foreign Ministry. The Wonsan-Kalma tourist zone is at the center of Kim's push to boost tourism as a way to improve his country's troubled economy. However, prospects for the tourist complex aren't clear, as North Korea appears unlikely to fully reopen its borders and embrace Western tourists anytime soon.
Free Malaysia Today
2 days ago
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Russian foreign minister Lavrov meets Kim Jong Un
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov (R) relayed the Kremlin's hopes with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. (RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY/AFP pic) MOSCOW : Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un today during his visit to the secretive country and key Moscow ally. Lavrov 'was received' by Kim Jong Un, Russia's foreign ministry said on Telegram, posting a video of two men shaking hands and greeting with a hug. Lavrov told Kim that Russia's President Vladimir Putin 'hopes for continued direct contacts in the very near future,' according to the Russian state agency TASS. Russian and North Korean state media announced the visit earlier, saying Lavrov would stay until Sunday. It is the latest in a series of high-profile trips by top Moscow officials as both countries deepen military and political ties over Russia's offensive in Ukraine. Pyongyang sent thousands of troops to Russia's Kursk region to oust Kyiv's forces and provided the Russian army with artillery shells and missiles. Earlier today, Lavrov met with his counterpart Choe Son Hui and said that North Korean officials had 'reaffirmed their full support for all objectives' of the offensive in Ukraine, TASS reported. He also thanked the 'heroic' North Korean soldiers. Both sides 'emphasised their determination to jointly counter the hegemonic aspirations of extra-regional players, which are leading to escalating tensions in Northeast Asia and throughout the Asia-Pacific region', Russia's foreign ministry said. Lavrov met with his counterpart in Wonsan, a city on the country's east coast where a massive resort was opened earlier this month. Ahead of the visit, Russia announced that it would begin twice-a-week flights between Moscow and Pyongyang. Lavrov lauded Wonsan as 'a good tourist attraction,' adding 'we hope it will be popular not only with local citizens, but also with Russians'. The two heavily sanctioned nations signed a military deal last year, including a mutual defence clause, during a rare visit by Vladimir Putin to North Korea.
