North Korean Troops in Russia: How Dangerous Is the World Right Now? | BBC News

Oct 27, 2024 | In his first BBC interview since standing down as chief of the general staff, General Sir Patrick Sanders has shared his views on whether peace with Russia is possible.

The ex-British Army chief has told Ukrainecast that he believes the world is more dangerous than it was during the Cold War.

Why Are North Korean Troops in Russia?

Over the last month, North Korea’s role aiding Russia in its war in Ukraine has significantly escalated. U.S. officials reported that North Korean soldiers are already operating in the Kursk region in western Russia, where Ukrainian forces are staging a counteroffensive. Michael Shear, a White House correspondent for The New York Times, explains what the deeping relationship between Russia and North Korea means for the war in Ukraine and the world. | By Michael D. Shear, Nikolay Nikolov and Laura Salaberry • October 26, 2024
Watch the NYT video here.

North Korean Troops Set to Join Russian Army as Pyongyang ‘Fully Enters’ War

THE TELEGRAPH: Intelligence sources say a battalion of 3,000 has been secretly training to fight against Ukraine

An image released by North Korean state media of young people reportedly signing petitions to join or return to the army this week | KCNA via Reuters
A battalion of 3,000 North Korean soldiers will shortly join Russian troops in fighting Ukraine, marking Pyongyang’s full entry into the war.

Intelligence sources said the unit has been secretly training in Russia’s Far East ahead of deployment as part of a Russian airborne regiment.

“They are called the Buryat Battalion,” a senior Ukrainian military source told Politico. Buryatia is a remote region of Russia bordering Mongolia that the Kremlin has targeted heavily for military recruitment.

The Kyiv Independent quoted another Western intelligence source claiming that North Korea had sent 10,000 soldiers to join the Russian army. » | James Kilner | Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Meek Europe is now in North Korea’s crosshairs: Reports suggest Moscow may be about to receive 10,000 troops from Pyongyang. Why is no one in uproar? »

In Need of Munitions, Putin to Visit North Korea

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Seeking more weapons for the war in Ukraine, the Russian president plans to return to the country on Tuesday for the first time in nearly a quarter-century.

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia will visit North Korea this week for a meeting with its leader, Kim Jong-un, their second in nine months, as the two countries deepen military ties to support Mr. Putin’s war in Ukraine with North Korean weapons.

Mr. Putin last visited North Korea in 2000, when he became the first Russian or Soviet leader to visit the nation. This week’s trip, beginning on Tuesday, highlights North Korea’s growing strategic importance for Mr. Putin, especially its ability to supply badly needed conventional weapons for the war in Ukraine.

Mr. Kim met with Mr. Putin in Russia’s Far East last September, ushering in a new era of relations between the two countries.

For Mr. Kim, it was a rare moment of his country, a pariah in the West, being sought after as an ally. For Russia, it’s a strengthening of ties with a country that is providing it with much-needed munitions for its war in Ukraine. » | Choe Sang-Hun, Reporting from Seoul | Monday, June 17, 2024

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North Korean Teens Get 12 Years’ Hard Labour for Watching South Korean Videos

GUARDIAN EUROPE: Footage shows two 16-year-olds being sentenced in front of hundreds of their peers in an amphitheatre

Video footage released by an organisation that works with North Korean defectors shows North Korean authorities publicly sentencing two teenagers to 12 years’ hard labour for watching South Korean videos.

The footage, which shows the two 16-year-olds in Pyongyang convicted of watching South Korean films and music videos, was released by the South and North Development Institute (Sand).

Reuters was unable to independently verify the footage, which was first reported by the BBC. (+ video) » | Reuters | Friday, January 19, 2024

Unification with South Korea No Longer Possible, Says Kim Jong-un

THE GUARDIAN: In a speech, the North Korean leader has called for constitutional change to identify the south as ‘number one hostile state’

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks at the Supreme People’s Assembly in Pyongyang, North Korea on Monday. Photograph: 朝鮮通信社/AP
North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, has called for a change to the constitution to identify South Korea as the “number one hostile state”, ending the regime’s commitment to unifying the Korean peninsula.

In a speech to the supreme people’s assembly – North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament – Kim said he no longer believed unification was possible and accused the South of attempting to foment regime change and promote unification by stealth.

In another sign of quickly deteriorating ties between the two Koreas, which ended their 1950-53 war with a truce but not a peace treaty – Kim said: “We don’t want war, but we have no intention of avoiding it.” » | Justin McCurry in Tokyo and agencies | Tuesday, January 16, 2024

U.S. Soldier Who Entered North Korea Is Charged With Desertion

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Army is also accusing Pvt. Travis T. King of other crimes including assaulting other soldiers and child pornography, according to a charging document.

Pvt. Travis T. King left North Korea last month after officials there said they had found him guilty of “illegally intruding” into their territory. | Ahn Young-Joon/Associated Press
Pvt. Travis T. King, the American soldier who returned to the United States last month after crossing into North Korea in July, has been charged in military court with multiple offenses, including desertion, assaulting other soldiers and child pornography.

Private King, 23, is being held at a civilian jail just outside Fort Bliss, near El Paso, according to a family spokesman. He was moved there from Fort Sam Houston, near San Antonio, where he had been undergoing reintegration procedures.

The charges were filed on Sunday by officials at Fort Bliss. Private King was made aware of them on Wednesday, the family spokesman said.

Private King’s mother, Claudine Gates of Racine, Wis., said in a statement that her son should be presumed innocent and that she was “extremely concerned about his mental health.” » | Dan Simmons and John Ismay | Friday, October 20, 2023

North Korea Deports US Soldier Who Had Crossed into the Country from the South | DW News

Sep 27, 2023 | North Korean authorities expelled Travis King, the US soldier who had crossed into the country from the South in July, Pyongyang's state media reported on Wednesday. According to the KCNA news agency, authorities finished questioning King, who had confessed to entering the country illegally because of his "ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination" in the US Army. Later on Wednesday, Washington said King was in US custody.

EN FRANÇAIS :

Corée du Nord : le soldat américain qui avait passé la frontière a été remis « aux mains » des Etats-Unis : Travis King, 23 ans, avait franchi la ligne de démarcation entre la Corée du Sud et la Corée du Nord le 18 juillet, probablement pour échapper à des sanctions disciplinaires dans son pays. La Maison Blanche a remercié la Suède et la Chine pour avoir facilité son « transfert » via la frontière chinoise avec la Corée du Nord. »

What Possible Kim-Putin Deals Could Look Like? | DW News

Sep 13, 2023 | North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with Russian President Vladimir Putin Wednesday for a day of talks that began at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia's Far East. The two leaders were at a remote Siberian rocket launch site, and began the day by inspecting a Soyuz-2 space facility. Later, the two lavished one another with compliments during a state dinner. …

Putin Toasts Kim over a Six-course Lunch.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: After a closely watched two-hour summit in Russia’s Far East, North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia sat down for a six-course lunch intended to showcase the wide span of Russian cuisine.

According to a menu posted on the messaging app Telegram by Russian reporters who cover the Kremlin, the meal opened with two appetizers: a duck salad with figs; and dumplings, called pelmeni, stuffed with crab from Kamchatka, a volcanic peninsula on Russia’s Pacific Coast that is known for its wildlife. The first two courses were followed by a clear-broth soup called ukha that is usually made with trout, salmon or other fish; parsley; dill; and potatoes or other root vegetables.

A sorbet made from sea buckthorn berries served as a palate cleanser before the main course, a choice of sturgeon with mushrooms and potatoes or entrecôte beef with baked vegetables. » | Valeriya Safronova | Wednesday, September 13, 2023

North Korea's Kim Jong-un Arrives in Russia

Sep 12, 2023 | Russian officials rolled out the red carpet for Kim Jong Un after his armored train arrived in the country today ahead of talks with President Putin that are expected to focus on North Korean weapons supplies for Moscow.

The North Korean dictator was escorted past a military guard into a train station in Khasan, the main border crossing between the two countries, according to images broadcast by state media. There was a heavy security presence at the station. Kim, who was wearing a dark suit, smiled as he stepped off his train, which was pulled into Khasan by a red Russian locomotive.

The Kremlin has said that Kim and Putin will meet after an economic forum in Vladivostok, a port city in Russia’s far eastern region, which ends tomorrow. It has given no other details about the time and location of the talks, which come after Washington warned North Korean not to supply Russia with arms and munitions for use in Ukraine. Sergei Shoigu, the Russian defence minister, will also take part in the talks, Moscow has said.

What an Arms Deal between Russia & North Korea Would Mean Geopolitically | DW News

Sep 12, 2023 | The United States has warned Kim Jong Un not to strike an arms deal with Vladimir Putin. The North Korean leader is travelling by armored train to eastern Russia for a meeting with the Russian president. He is expected to seek Russian economic aid and military technology in exchange for munitions which would support Moscow's war against Ukraine. Kim is being accompanied by senior military advisers on what is his first trip abroad in three years.

North Korea's Kim Jong-un in Russia amid US Warnings Not to Sell Arms | The World

Sep 12, 2023 | North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has arrived in Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin. Political and international editor at the Sydney Morning Herald, Peter Hartcher, tells The World details around the visit have been clouded in secrecy to protect their security.

Kim Jong-un Arrives in Russia to Meet Putin as US Threatens Sanctions

THE GUARDIAN: North Korean leader travels on armoured train for talks amid concerns Putin is seeking arms deal for Ukraine war

Kim Jong-un waves as he departs by train from Pyongyang for a visit to Russia. Photograph: KCNA via KNS/AFP/Getty
Kim Jong-un has arrived in Russia on his armoured train for a rare summit with President Vladimir Putin to discuss a possible deal to supply North Korean arms for the war in Ukraine.

The train arrived at Khasan station, the main rail gateway to Russia’s Far East from North Korea, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported on Tuesday, citing an unnamed Russian official source.

Kim, who is was reportedly accompanied by senior arms industry and military officials, could meet Putin on Wednesday after the Eastern Economic Forum in the Russian port city of Vladivostok, where Putin has already arrived.

Kim’s trip to Russia and meeting with Putin will be a full-scale visit to strengthen ties, the Kremlin spokesperson said. » | Justin McCurry in Tokyo | Tuesday, September 12, 2023

Pink leather armchairs and bomb-proof floors: inside Kim Jong-un’s armoured train: The North Korean leader’s preferred mode of transport is a slow-moving but luxuriously appointed dark green locomotive »

Related article here.

Putin’s Meeting with Kim Could Herald a New Era of Cooperation.

Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, with Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, in Vladivostok, Russia, in 2019. | Pool photo by Yuri Kadobnov
THE NEW YORK TIMES: When the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia four years ago in their only previous meeting, it was mostly for diplomatic show.

But this week he will meet Mr. Putin with the ability to supply something the Kremlin desperately needs: munitions that could help Russian forces fighting in Ukraine.

In return, Russia could give North Korea some of what it needs — food, oil or hard currency — and turn a relationship long limited to modest trade and public displays of cooperation into something more substantive. » | Paul Sonne | Monday, September 11, 2023

North Korea Will ‘Pay a Price’ If It Supplies Arms to Russia, Says US

THE GUARDIAN: Providing weapons to Moscow for Ukraine war will not ‘reflect well on North Korea’, national security adviser says, amid reports of active talks

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un toasts Russian president Vladimir Putin in Vladivostok, Russia in 2019. The US has said North Korea will pay a price if it supplies arms to Moscow for use in Ukraine. Photograph: 朝鮮通信社/AP
The US warned Kim Jong-un that North Korea would “pay a price” for supplying Russia with weapons to use in Ukraine, saying that arms negotiations between the two states were actively advancing.

Providing weapons to Russia “is not going to reflect well on North Korea and they will pay a price for this in the international community,” US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters at the White House.

The Kremlin said earlier on Tuesday it had “nothing to say” about statements by US officials that Kim planned to travel to Russia this month to meet President Vladimir Putin and discuss weapons supplies to Moscow.

Kim expects discussions about weapons to continue, Sullivan said, including at leader level and “perhaps even in person”. » | Reuters | Wednesday, September 6, 2023

Related.

North Korea Finds New Leverage in the Ukraine War

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Kim Jong-un is likely to seek missile and warhead technology in an expected visit to Russia, and he is already getting a public embrace he has long sought.

North Korea leader Kim Jong-un with Russia’s President Vladimir V. Putin in Vladivostok, Russia, in 2019. Russia has long been a crucial ally for the isolated North Korea. | Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters
For Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, a rare trip to Russia this month to discuss military aid for President Vladimir V. Putin’s Ukraine war effort could provide two things the North has wanted for a long time: technical help with its weapons programs, and to finally be needed by an important neighbor.

North Korea has not been used to getting a lot of attention other than global condemnation for its nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests. But Russia’s urgency to make new gains in the war is offering Mr. Kim a bit of the geopolitical spotlight — and a new way to both irk the United States and draw closer to Moscow and Beijing.

Though Russia has long been a crucial ally for the isolated North, relations between the two countries have at times grown tense since the disintegration of the Soviet Union. And Russia accounts for very little of the economic trade that North Korea needs; China alone provides nearly all of that.

Now, common interests and worldview are bringing the neighbors closer. » | Choe Sang-Hun, Reporting from Seoul | Tuesday, September 5, 2023

The News Agents: US Soldier in North Korea: "They Won't Just Hand Him Back - They'll Exploit Him to the Maximum

Jul 26, 2023 | Military expert and former army officer Daniel L Davis explains what is likely to happen to the US soldier to crossed the North Korean border after abandoning a tourist trip.

US Soldier Intentionally Crossed North Korean Border - BBC News

Jul 19, 2023 | North Korea has detained a serving US army soldier who crossed the heavily fortified border from South Korea without permission. Travis King, 23, was on an organised tour of the UN-run zone dividing the two countries. Officials in Seoul have confirmed that King, a Private 2nd Class, recently spent two months in prison in South Korea previously for assault charges. He was then released from prison on 10 July and escorted to the airport for a US-bound flight. According to reports, he was able to leave the terminal and get a tour of the border, from where he crossed over into North Korea.

North Koreans Tell BBC They Are Stuck and Waiting to Die - BBC News

Jun 15, 2023 | Three North Koreans want to tell the world about the situation in the country. They expose, for the first time, the disaster unfolding there since the government sealed the borders more than three years ago starvation, brutal crackdowns and no chance to escape. Under the tyrannical rule of Kim Jong Un, North Koreans are forbidden from making contact with the outside world. A spokesperson for the North Korean government has disputed the claims, which they said were “not entirely factual”.

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