Jenny Town
@j3nnyt0wn · Asia
Jenny Town is followed by Storyz World for research and subject expertise coverage connected to South Korea in the Asia chapter.
While there may not be formal trilateral cooperation among China, Russia and NK, their foreign policy talking points about regional security are well aligned, and showing a united front.
Trump unilaterally scaled back US-ROK exercises and is complaining about the cost of exercises for NATO and ROK. Wonder what he’ll make of this.
Both Koreas replaced their defense ministers this week (coincidently). For North Korea - as part of major restructuring of the military; for South Korea as part of increased emphasis on preparing for wartime OPCON transition and military academy restructuring.
a broader strategic rationale makes the sacrifices (esp of North Korean lives) worthwhile. I agree with the authors that there is a long game here, where NK's support of Russia has already elevated NK's role in a changing world order. That is likely to be sustained post-war.
As headlines turn to the prospects of a Trump-Kim summit, let's not forget North Korea is still directly involved in Russia's war in Ukraine. That's unlikely to change as long as the war drags on. For Pyongyang, the short term transactional benefits are beneficial BUT
This is huge. And understandable. from cycles of tariffs and coercive economic measures to the Hyundai ice raid to the open undermining of South Korea over military exercises. It’s more surprising it didn’t cross that threshold sooner.
Ukraine intelligence reports Russia has received North Korean Hwasong-11C (KN-30) SRBMs to add to their KN-23/24s - a heavier variant, with claimed 4,500 kg payload and 500-900 km est. range. No documented use yet, but provides greater target options. https://t.co/JXzY8fVETk