North Korea’s Kim to Back Putin ‘Unconditionally’ in Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

North Korea’s Kim to Back Putin ‘Unconditionally’ in Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

What is your take on this? This these closer ties, how significant they really are, The pomp, the pomposity was there, all the imagery was there. But it is this is this material for Putin? Yeah, absolutely. I think this is it’s a big deal. It’s a huge deal for North Korea, which has been a very isolated, say, the most isolated state on the planet, essentially. And, you know, for a long time, you know, they had more leeway with Russia and China than they did with the West. But nevertheless, they were under pretty tight control. And the Russians had helped with, you know, signed off on all kinds of sanctions in the U.N. and so on. So that is now all in question. And for the North Koreans, they will now have access to all kinds of things that they haven’t had before, you know, and technologically and so on. You know, Russia is a developed nation and so massive for North Korea. And you could see that in the way that he was received. For Russia, it’s also a very big deal. North Korea, you know, it wars we’re discovering in Ukraine. You know, we’re reminding ourselves, you know, yes, about technology, but they’re also just about mass and the way that, you know, ex-Soviet forces, such as the Russians and the Ukrainians both find is via artillery far more than we do on the Americans. So, you know what? What really matters is that the North Koreans have vast stocks of compatible artillery shells, you know, rocket shell, rocket, you know, for multiple rocket launches and munitions that the Russians can use. And equally important is that they share a border. So all of that can just be shipped over over land. And there is really nothing that the US or anybody else can do to intervene. So there’s nothing they can do to intervene in terms of the US and its allies who presumably are looking at this with pretty significant anxiety when it comes to the time frames. And because US and European equipment is being delivered to the Ukrainians as we speak. Do the Russians get that additional ammunition ability come through before that equipment is on the ground? How is it playing out since the rush for munitions, the rush for kits for both of these sides? I mean, clearly, there is a race on and I don’t know the details of everything that is going to be delivered and what the timeframes would be on that. But in terms of artillery stocks, artillery shells, tanks and these kinds of, you know, weapons, they can be delivered very quickly. And they have been we’re talking millions of shells. So they the North Koreans can deliver this stuff faster than the Europeans and Americans can make it for sure. Then, you know, we get into sort of much more murky areas where we talk about short range ballistic missiles. You know, supposedly we don’t know for sure. We think that, you know, more of those will be on the way. That would be important to kind of answer to attack bombs and things like that. But I don’t know what the timeframe on that would be. Yeah. Is there is this there’s some have suggested this is also a sign that that Putin is increasingly isolated, that Russia is increasingly isolated. The fact that they have to go to the North Koreans for this kind of support. What do you read into that analysis? This is a weak and cut off Putin. I would say that is slightly delusional. You know, what we’re seeing is Putin finding a very useful ally. It is an ally that we, you know, have very little time for. It is a very strange state, rather a poor state, but it’s highly militarized and it is useful. And I think you you need to not think about, you know. Yes. Well, this is a sign of weakness. Of course it is in the sense that, you know, he’s cut off his relations with his biggest market in Europe. These are economic disasters in the medium and long term. It’s terrible for Russia. But in the short term, these are very important security moves. Does North Korea become more of a risk to South Korea and Japan? You made the point that Russia was one of the signatories to these U.N. sanctions. Putin’s come out in the last couple of hours and said those sanctions need to be rethought. Yeah. The consequences, South Korea, Japan, I think they are very significant. Again, and it may be one reason why, you know, there’s some speculation that the Chinese are quite nervous about all this because they don’t really want anything to, you know, persuade the North Koreans and the Japanese that it’s time for them to acquire nuclear weapons. So, you know, it’s complicated, but I would say, yes, that it’s significant there to.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he will “unconditionally support” Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. The statement comes as Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks in Pyongyang, emphasizing deepening ties between the two nations amid US concerns about arms supplies to the Kremlin. Bloomberg Opinion’s Marc Champion breaks down the situation and its significance.
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