Displaying items by tag: North Korea

The USA, South Korea, and Japan are proposing a new multinational panel outside the UN to enforce sanctions against North Korea. Russia rejected renewing the UN panel which has monitored sanctions for fifteen years, and China abstained. The new panel, with support from allies like Australia and New Zealand, would aim to continue the UN’s work. Though lacking UN endorsement, it could monitor North Korea more effectively, and could also oversee human rights resolutions on North Korea. US ambassador Thomas-Greenfield is discussing options with South Korea and Japan. Noting that Moscow and Beijing have called for easing sanctions to restart diplomacy and ease humanitarian suffering in the impoverished nation, he urged them to reverse course, and stop rewarding North Korea's bad behaviour.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called for enhanced military capabilities against the US and South Korea, responding to ongoing joint military exercises between the two nations. During a visit to a training base, Kim emphasised the need for “actual war drills'' to improve combat readiness, as reported by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). This stance follows the North Korean Defense Ministry's declaration of conducting “responsible military activities'' in reaction to what they perceive as invasion preparations through the South Korean-US drills. The annual South Korean-US exercises, which are computer-simulated and involve field training, are seen as defensive by the participating countries. North Korea, which has historically responded to these drills with missile tests, continues to showcase nuclear-capable weaponry. South Korea’s Defense Ministry spokesperson, Jeon Ha Gyu, affirmed that South Korea will robustly counter any North Korean provocations, criticising the North’s portrayal of the drills as invasion rehearsals. This escalation occurs amidst a series of North Korean missile tests designed to target South Korea and the US mainland. Observers expect further tensions and provocative actions from North Korea, especially in the context of upcoming major elections in the US and South Korea.

South Korea’s defence minister has said that North Korea's munitions factories are operating at full capacity to supply weapons and shells to Russia for the war conflict in Ukraine. This revelation sheds light on North Korea's secretive role in aiding Russia's war efforts, while Ukraine's own need for military resupplies faces obstacles in Washington. The exchange involves millions of rounds of artillery shells, facilitated by shipments of food and other essentials from Russia, while other factories are operating at only 30% capacity due to shortages in raw materials and electricity. It is estimated that over 10,000 containers of munitions have been delivered since September. They come at a critical juncture in the conflict, as Moscow seeks to sustain its war efforts amidst heavy losses. Russia's recent capture of Avdiivka highlights its ability to wear down Ukrainian forces, while Kyiv faces challenges including manpower constraints and dwindling Western ammunition supplies.

Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un toasted their friendship with Russian wine after Putin showed Kim around the country's most modern space launch facility. Kim is currently in Russia, where he has vowed to support the Kremlin's ‘sacred war’ against Ukraine, raising concerns that the two nations could bolster their military capabilities. At the end of the reception, Kim courteously invited Putin to visit the DPRK at a convenient time. Putin accepted the invitation with pleasure and reaffirmed his desire invariably to carry forward the history and tradition of the Russia-DPRK friendship. They also held talks alongside their defence ministers and called each other ‘comrades’. The growing friendship has concerned the West that North Korea will supply Russia with weapons. The USA said that this visit has made it clear that Putin will set aside any concern to achieve victory in Ukraine. If an arms deal was reached, the USA would slap additional sanctions on them. In a further surprise development, Kim has extended his stay in Russia: see

Kim Jong Un will visit Vladimir Putin in September; the USA is concerned they will discuss North Korea providing Moscow with weapons to use in Ukraine. An arms deal makes transactional sense. Moscow needs ammunition and artillery shells. Pyongyang has plenty of both. Sanction-starved North Korea needs money and food after three years of border closures. Also, the breakdown of talks with the USA has left North Korea more isolated than ever. The US has warned of an arms deal between the two countries for some time: now, a leader-level meeting between Kim and Putin catapults this into the next realm. Russia’s desperate situation means Mr Kim will be able to extract a high price. On 4 September, South Korea's intelligence service briefed that Russia's defence minister has suggested that Russia, China and North Korea hold joint naval drills, like those carried out by the USA, South Korea and Japan, which Kim Jong Un so detests.

73 years ago an armistice was signed to divide North and South Korea. Now, millions of Koreans are praying for the reunification of the country. Each night for the past 17 years, from 10:00 pm to 3:00 am, South Korean intercessors with the Esther Prayer Movement gather to pray for the liberation of North Korea. The movement’s president said that North Korea has one of the world's worst qualities of life, the worst democracy, economic freedom, and freedom of speech; the most slavery, bribery and corruption. It is the worst persecutor of Christians. People in North Korea have no chance to listen to the Gospel, and they must idolise their dictator: ‘So we should make them free from their bondage. We pray for them.’ The North Korean underground church has 400,000 believers. South Koreans seek to spread the Gospel by floating across the water bottles filled with rice, money, and USB drives containing the Bible or Christian videos.

North Korea is teetering on the brink of famine. Their official newspaper urges economic self-reliance, arguing that relying on external aid to cope with the food situation would be like taking ‘poisoned candy’. A US thinktank said North Korea is reeling from floods, typhoons and global sanctions over its nuclear programme and is on the brink of famine. Food insecurity is at its ‘worst since the 1990s famine’, and food availability is likely below the bare minimum for human needs. Experts say the current food shortages, triggered by poor harvests amid extreme weather conditions, have been exacerbated by lockdowns and a sharp reduction in trade with China due to border closures during the pandemic. Pyongyang called for an ‘urgent’ meeting of the Workers’ Party on agriculture this month. It is rare for such a special meeting. They have also reduced daily food rations to soldiers for the first time since 2000.

Pyongyang, North Korea's capital, once called ‘Jerusalem of the East,’ can no longer claim that title as the Juche doctrine is now its religion, with the Kims as its deities. Christian church information is limited. It survives as an underground church where meetings are held in secret. If members are caught, they will go to prison or a labour camp. Intense media control means that few North Koreans have heard the name of Jesus. The government dictates people’s lifestyle through generic provisions and limiting personal differences. Much of North Korea is underdeveloped., and natural disasters and military spending have strapped the economy. In the past fifteen years, two million people have died due to food shortages. The country relies on foreign aid to feed its people. North Korea is accused of torture, slavery, public executions, forced abortions, infanticides, as well as detaining possibly as many as 200,000 political prisoners.

In recent years, the United States and South Korea have cancelled some of their regular drills and reduced others to computer simulations, to create space for diplomacy and allay Covid-19 concerns. But after North Korea dismissed South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol's offer to exchange denuclearisation steps and economic benefits, the USA and South Korea began their biggest combined military training in years on 22 August, heightening their defence posture against the growing North Korean nuclear threat. The Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises, which will continue until 1 September, include aircraft, warships, tanks, and potentially tens of thousands of troops. They could draw anger from Pyongyang, which has pushed its weapons testing activity to a record pace this year while repeatedly threatening conflicts with Seoul and Washington amid a prolonged stalemate in diplomacy. Some say North Korea sees the exercises as rehearsals for an invasion.

Russian military expert Igor Korotchenko said on state TV: ‘There are 100,000 North Korean volunteers prepared to come and take part in the war in Ukraine. North Korean builders are ready to work alongside ours to repair war damage. If North Korean volunteers with their artillery systems, wealth of experience with counter-battery warfare, and large calibre multi-launch rocket systems, want to participate in the conflict, well, let’s give the green light to their volunteer impulse.’ A South Korean report stated that the North is already preparing to dispatch its workers to the pro-Russian Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. Calling the North Korean troops ‘resilient, undemanding and motivated’, a Russian journalist said that the Kremlin ‘should not be shy in accepting the hand extended to us by Kim Jong-un’.