To challenge the power of his chief rival, the United States, China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, has linked arms with two anti-Western states, declaring a “no limits” partnership with Russia and pledging “unswerving” support for North Korea. But the specter of a budding bromance between President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, after their meeting this week in eastern Russia, may not be as welcome a development for Mr. Xi as it might initially seem. Closer ties between Pyongyang and Moscow could result in…
Tag: North Korea
The Guardian view on ties between North Korea and Russia: bad news, and not only for Ukraine | Editorial
North Korea is adept at grabbing attention through both rhetoric and weaponry. On Friday it announced that it had launched its first “tactical nuclear attack submarine”, though the South Korean military said it did not appear to be operational. The most important development of recent days, however, is the report that Kim Jong-un will soon visit Russia, to discuss weapons sales with Vladimir Putin. Moscow has also proposed trilateral naval drills with China. An old but never easy three-way relationship is picking up again. Mr Kim’s grandfather rose to power…
Putin’s collection of oddball allies grows by the day. It’s time the west got tougher | Simon Tisdall
Vladimir Putin must be feeling fairly desperate if he’s relying on Kim Jong-un for friendship and support. There’s a reason why North Korea’s unpredictable dictator is among the world’s most ostracised leaders. Nobody likes him and he don’t care, as the saying goes. Yet Russia’s despised, isolated war-criminal president is in much the same leaky boat these days, slowly sinking, calling out for help. After being forced to duck the Brics and G20 summits for fear of arrest, humiliated Putin’s consolation prize is a possible meeting with Kim in Vladivostok…
North Korea abruptly cancels first post-Covid international commercial flight
North Korea’s national airline’s first commercial flight since it largely closed itself off from the world in early 2020 in response to the Covid pandemic has been abruptly cancelled. Journalists gathered on Monday at Beijing’s Capital international airport to await Air Koryo flight JS151 from Pyongyang, due to arrive at 9.50am. But almost two hours after its scheduled arrival, the arrivals board in the terminal showed it as cancelled, prompting groans of disappointment from media waiting to see some of the isolated North’s first international travellers in years. Beijing airport…
North Korea showcases attack drones during show of unity with China and Russia
North Korea has carried out demonstration flights of new military drones, state media reported, as leader Kim Jong-un shared centre stage with senior delegates from Russia and China in a show of unity at a parade in the capital. State media said on Friday that Kim rolled out his most powerful, nuclear-capable missiles during the “Victory Day” parade in Pyongyang to mark the 70th anniversary of the armistice that stopped fighting in the Korean War. Joining Kim were Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu and Chinese ruling party official Li Hongzhong.…
Putin Plans China Visit as a Russian Leader Joins a North Korea Celebration
As part of Russia’s ongoing efforts to strengthen ties with Asian allies, President Vladimir V. Putin will travel to a conference in China in October, while the defense minister, Sergei K. Shoigu, will join a Chinese delegation at a celebration in North Korea this week, according to Russian state news media. Mr. Putin will meet with Xi Jinping, China’s leader, to discuss bilateral trade and economic cooperation at an international forum, according to Tass, a Russian state news agency. The relationship between China and Russia has deepened during the war…
Defecting From North Korea Is Now Far Harder
The North Korean software engineer was desperate. He had been sent to northeastern China in 2019 to earn money for the North Korean regime. After working long hours under the constant watch of his minders, he found an email address on a website and sent a harrowing message in 2021: “I am writing at the risk of losing my life,” pleaded the engineer. A young woman who had been smuggled by human traffickers from North Korea into China in 2018 contacted the owner of the same website early this year.…
G7 leaders warn China and North Korea against expanding nuclear arsenals as they await Zelenskiy
G7 leaders have warned China and North Korea against expanding their nuclear arsenals, as they prepare for the arrival of the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The war in Ukraine has dominated discussions in Hiroshima, with Zelenskiy set to arrive in the city late on Saturday, a day after the White House announced it would permit allied countries to supply Ukraine with US-built F-16 fighter planes. Zelenskiy described the decision as “historic”, adding that he looked forward to “discussing the practical implementation” in Hiroshima. Russia’s war in Ukraine has raised fears…
U.S. Indicts Four Men in Scheme to Launder Cryptocurrency for North Korea
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department said on Monday that it had indicted four men on charges of laundering virtual currency stolen by an infamous North Korean online criminal syndicate as part of a far-reaching scheme to buy goods with U.S. dollars and evade international sanctions. The charges, filed in three cases in federal court in Washington, outline a complex multiyear effort to launder cryptocurrency obtained by the Lazarus Group, an organization linked to espionage, online theft and cyberattacks, including the 2014 breach of Sony Pictures. The scheme involved a relatively…
The Observer view on North Korea: only China can put a stop to Kim Jong-un’s latest round of nuclear sabre-rattling | Observer editorial
North Korea’s scary test launch of a newly developed, solid-fuel, nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile caused a brief panic on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido last week. It also added a note of urgency to today’s meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Japan’s hot-spring resort of Karuizawa, where the Pyongyang regime’s escalating threats will be high on the agenda. Even so, the key to the North Korea conundrum may lie hundreds of miles away, in Beijing. Two questions will dominate G7 deliberations. Why is Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s dictator, deliberately…