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North Korea’s leader is in Russia to meet Putin, with both locked in standoffs with the West

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets with Russian Natural Resources Minister Alexander Kozlov upon arrival in Khasan, Russia, September 12, 2023, in this image released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency on September 13, 2023. (REUTERS)
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Russian President Vladimir Putin, center right, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un shake hands during their meeting in Vladivostok, Russia, Thursday, April 25, 2019. (AP)
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Updated 13 September 2023
AP
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North Korea’s leader is in Russia to meet Putin, with both locked in standoffs with the West

  • The United States has accused North Korea of providing Russia with arms, including selling artillery shells to the Russian mercenary group Wagner. Both Russian and North Korean officials denied such claims
Updated 13 September 2023
AP

SEOUL, South Korea: North Korea’s Kim Jong Un rolled through Russia on an armored train Tuesday toward a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, a rare encounter between isolated leaders driven together by their need for support in escalating standoffs with the West.
Kim is expected to seek economic aid and military technology for his impoverished country, and, in a twist, appears to have something Putin desperately needs: munitions for Russia’s grueling war in Ukraine.
It’s a chance for the North Korean leader to get around crippling UN sanctions and years of diplomatic isolation. For Putin, it’s an opportunity to refill ammunition stores that the war has drained.
Any arms deal with North Korea would violate the sanctions, which Russia supported in the past.
Kim’s personal train stopped in Khasan, a station on the Russia-North Korea border, early Tuesday where it was met by a military honor guard and a brass band. He was met on a red carpet by regional Gov. Oleg Kozhemyako and Natural Resources Minister Alexander Kozlov, according to North Korean state media and video posted on social media channels.
Kim said his decision to visit Russia four years after his previous visit — his first foreign trip since the COVID-19 pandemic — showed how Pyongyang is “prioritizing the strategic importance” of its relations with Moscow, North Korea’s official news agency said Wednesday.
The Korean Central News Agency said Kim then left for his destination, but it didn’t specify where.
Many had assumed he and Putin would meet in Vladivostok, a Russian city close to the border where the two leaders had their last meeting in 2019, and which Putin is visiting this week for an economic forum.
But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed only that Kim has entered Russia, and state news agency RIA-Novosti later reported his train had headed north after crossing the Razdolnaya River, taking it away from Vladivostok. The South Korean news agency Yonhap later published a photo it said showed the train in Ussuriysk, a city about 60 kilometers (about 40 miles) north of Vladivostok that has a sizable ethnic Korean population.
Some Russian news media speculate he is headed for the Vostochny spaceport, which Putin is to visit soon. At the forum, Putin declined to say what he intended to do there. The launch facility is about 900 kilometers (550 miles) northwest of Ussuriysk, but the route there is circuitous and it is unclear how long Kim’s slow-moving train would take to reach it.
Peskov said Putin and Kim will meet after the Vladivostok forum, and that the meeting would include a lunch in Kim’s honor.
Kim left Pyongyang on his train Sunday, accompanied by members of the ruling party, government and military, KCNA said.
Officials identified in North Korean state media photos could hint at what Kim might seek from Putin and what he would be willing to give.
Kim is accompanied by Jo Chun Ryong, a ruling party official in charge of munitions policies who joined him on recent tours of factories producing artillery shells and missiles, according to South Korea’s Unification Ministry. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu will be part of the Russian delegation, Peskov said.
Kim’s delegation also includes Foreign Minister Choe Sun Hui and his top military officials, including Korean People’s Army Marshals Ri Pyong Chol and Pak Jong Chon and Defense Minister Kang Sun Nam.
North Korea may have tens of millions of aging artillery shells and rockets based on Soviet designs that could give a huge boost to the Russian army in Ukraine, analysts say.
Also identified in photos were Pak Thae Song, chairman of North Korea’s space science and technology committee, and navy Adm. Kim Myong Sik, who are linked with North Korean efforts to acquire spy satellites and nuclear-capable ballistic missile submarines. Experts say North Korea would struggle to acquire such capabilities without external help, although it’s not clear if Russia would share such sensitive technology.
Kim Jong Un may also seek badly needed energy and food supplies, analysts say. Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said Russia may discuss humanitarian aid with the North Korean delegation, according to Russian news agencies.
Data from FlightRadar24.com, which tracks flights worldwide, showed an Air Koryo An-148 took off from Pyongyang on Tuesday and flew to Vladivostok. North Korea’s national airline has only just resumed flying internationally after being grounded during the COVID-19 pandemic. There had been speculation that North Korea could use a plane to fly in support staff.
Kim is making his first foreign trip since the pandemic, during which North Korea imposed tight border controls for more than three years. After decades of hot-and-cold relations, Russia and North Korea have drawn closer since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Lim Soo-suk, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said Seoul was maintaining communication with Moscow while closely monitoring Kim’s visit.
“No UN member state should violate Security Council sanctions against North Korea by engaging in an illegal trade of arms, and must certainly not engage in military cooperation with North Korea that undermines the peace and stability of the international community,” Lim said at a briefing.
US deputy ambassador Robert Wood said Tuesday that Moscow’s potential deals with North Korea could include “the provision of raw materials that would assist Russia’s defense industrial base.” Wood’s comments came during a UN Security Council meeting called by Russia to protest Western weapons supplies to Ukraine.
According to US officials, Putin could focus on securing more supplies of North Korean artillery and other ammunition to refill arsenals as Moscow seeks to rebuff a Ukrainian counteroffensive and show that he’s capable of grinding out a long war of attrition. That could potentially put more pressure on the US and its partners to pursue negotiations as concerns over a protracted conflict grow despite their huge shipments of advanced weaponry to Ukraine in the past 18 months.
The United States has accused North Korea of providing Russia with arms, including selling artillery shells to the Russian mercenary group Wagner. Both Russian and North Korean officials denied such claims.
Speculation about their military cooperation grew after Shoigu, the Russian defense minister, visited North Korea in July. Kim invited him to a massive military parade in the capital showcasing ICBMs designed to target the US mainland.
Following that visit, Kim toured North Korea’s weapons factories. Experts say Kim’s visits to the factories likely had a dual goal of encouraging the modernization of North Korean weaponry and examining artillery and other supplies that could be exported to Russia.

 

Topics: India Vietnam US Joe Biden G20

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Philippines, United States to sign military intelligence-sharing deal

Updated 2 sec ago
Reuters
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Philippines, United States to sign military intelligence-sharing deal

  • Visiting US Defense Secretary LLoyd Austin and his Philippine counterpart, Gilberto Teodoro, will sign the agreement
  • The two countries have a mutual defense treaty dating back to 1951
Updated 2 sec ago
Reuters
MANILA: The Philippines and the United States will sign on Monday a military intelligence-sharing deal, Manila’s defense ministry said, in a further deepening of security ties between the two defense treaty allies.
Visiting US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Philippine counterpart, Gilberto Teodoro, will sign the agreement, it said.
Called the General Security of Military Information Agreement or GSOMIA, the pact allows both countries to share military information securely.
Security engagements between the United States and the Philippines have deepened under President Joe Biden and Philippine counterpart Ferdinand Marcos Jr, with both leaders keen to counter what they see as China’s aggressive policies in the South China Sea and near Taiwan.
The two countries have a mutual defense treaty dating back to 1951, which could be invoked if either side came under attack, including in the South China Sea.
The Philippines has expressed confidence the alliance will remain strong under incoming US president Donald Trump.

Woman-owned cafe in Indonesia’s Sharia stronghold shakes stigma

Updated 1 min 21 sec ago
AFP
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Woman-owned cafe in Indonesia’s Sharia stronghold shakes stigma

  • While the province has long been known as the site of the world’s deadliest tsunami and a decades-long separatist insurgency, Aceh’s draw for visitors is often the coffee
Updated 1 min 21 sec ago
AFP
Banda Aceh: In what claims to be the only woman-run cafe in the capital of Indonesia’s most conservative province, owner Qurrata Ayuni says she and her baristas provide an alternative to rowdy, smoke-filled male haunts.
The 28-year-old opened Morning Mama last year to create a space that caters to women in Banda Aceh, known as the city of 1,001 coffee shops.
“I thought why not open a place that is comfortable for women?” she said.
While the province has long been known as the site of the world’s deadliest tsunami and a decades-long separatist insurgency, Aceh’s draw for visitors is often the coffee.
The traditional “sanger” latte, mixed with condensed milk, is a popular staple.
Aceh’s strong connection to coffee started hundreds of years ago with Dutch colonial rulers. Now, its farmers cultivate world-renowned beans in lush highlands.
Aceh still catches attention for its ultraconservative values, including by-laws that require Muslim women to wear hijabs.
While women are not banned from working in the only region in Muslim-majority Indonesia to impose Islamic law, running a coffee shop is seen as a man’s job.
“It’s extremely difficult for women in Aceh to pursue education or a career, facing not only legal restrictions but also social bullying,” said Andreas Harsono of Human Rights Watch.
Despite widespread criticism, public whipping remains a common punishment for a range of offenses in the province, including gambling, alcohol consumption and relations outside marriage.
Independent career paths are mostly viewed as out of reach for Aceh’s young women, but Qurrata was undeterred.
’Time for change’
Qurrata, who owns her cafe without a business partner, saw a demand for a space for women to work or meet friends.
She and her team of baristas pour fresh coffee to mostly hijab-wearing customers, with children’s books and menstruation pads on sale nearby.
“There’s no cigarette smoke, it’s not noisy, it’s really cosy,” she said, adding that some men also have coffees at her shop.
“It’s a statement that women can own businesses, make decisions and lead,” she said.
“Now is the time for change.”
The entrepreneur says women are stepping up, pointing to at least 1,000 applying for a barista job.
“I want to offer them the chance to change the course of their lives,” she said.
Caca, a 23-year-old barista, said it was a “really cool job” rare in Aceh.
The cafe’s regulars hail Morning Mama as a spot where women can be themselves.
“I feel more connection if I ask something with a woman barista,” said 21-year-old student Meulu Alina. “I don’t feel any nervousness. It’s more like talking with your sister.”
Helping others
Before starting her business, Qurrata overcame the loss of her parents at the age of eight in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which killed more than 200,000 people.
Her village near Banda Aceh was completely destroyed, but she survived and was raised by her aunt and uncle.
Qurrata said she wants to channel her grief into helping other women.
“It’s a platform to help others find their own resilience, much like I did,” she said.
Photography jobs allowed her to build savings and confidence, taking a leap into business after her uncle encouraged her and helped financially.
Other women were still “afraid to start,” she said, for fear men will say bad things.
“People here tend to believe that women should stay at home,” she said.
But “the older generation understands that times have changed.”
Owner of Aceh’s popular Solong coffee shop, Hajji Nawawi, said he would not employ women but locals had accepted them making coffee elsewhere, calling it “normal” as values “from outside” Aceh had entered the province.
Qurrata employs five women alongside two men.
Revenue fluctuates, but Qurrata says her ultimate aim is to inspire other women.
“Women are capable of so much more than we’re often given credit for. We can be leaders, creators, and innovators,” she said.
“So don’t just sit back. Don’t be afraid.”

Indigenous Australian lawmaker who heckled King Charles censured

Updated 8 min ago
AFP
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Indigenous Australian lawmaker who heckled King Charles censured

  • Independent senator Lidia Thorpe’s censure carries no practical punishment but passed the Senate Monday with 46 votes in favor and 12 against
Updated 8 min ago
AFP

SYDNEY: An Indigenous lawmaker was censured by Australia’s parliament Monday for heckling King Charles about the legacy of European settlement during his October visit to Canberra.
The censure carries no practical punishment but passed the Senate Monday with 46 votes in favor and 12 against.
During the king’s visit to parliament, independent senator Lidia Thorpe screamed: “This is not your land, you are not my king,” decrying what she said was a “genocide” of Indigenous Australians by European settlers.
She also turned her back on the king as dignitaries stood for the national anthem.
The censure motion condemned Thorpe’s actions as “disruptive and disrespectful.”
It also said the Senate no longer regarded it “appropriate” for Thorpe to be a member of any delegation “during the life of this parliament.”
A censure motion is a symbolic gesture when parliamentarians are dissatisfied with the behavior of one of their own.
Thorpe – sporting a gold chain with ‘Not My King’ around her neck – said she did not “give a damn” about the censure and would most likely use the document as “kindling” later in the week.
She told national broadcaster ABC she would “do it again” if the monarch returned.
“I will resist colonization in this country. I swear my allegiance to the real sovereigns of these lands: First Peoples are the real sovereigns,” she said.
Green Senator Mehreen Faruqi voted against Thorpe’s censure, saying the lawmaker was telling Australia’s history “the way she wants to.”
Thorpe is known for her attention-grabbing political stunts and fierce opposition to the monarchy.
When she was sworn into office in 2022, Thorpe raised her right fist as she begrudgingly swore to serve Queen Elizabeth II, who was then Australia’s head of state.
Australia was a British colony for more than 100 years, during which time thousands of Aboriginal Australians were killed and entire communities displaced.
The country gained de facto independence in 1901, but has never become a fully-fledged republic.
King Charles is the current head of state.
The issue of a republic reared its head during the king’s visit Down Under earlier this year, but the issue remains a political non-starter.
A recent poll showed about a third of Australians would like to ditch the monarchy, a third would keep it and a third are ambivalent.
In 1999, Australians narrowly voted against removing the queen, amid a row over whether her replacement would be chosen by members of parliament, not the public.

Topics: Australia King Charles

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North Korean leader calls for expanding his nuclear forces in the face of alleged US threats

Updated 42 min 2 sec ago
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North Korean leader calls for expanding his nuclear forces in the face of alleged US threats

  • Kim Jong Un condemns the US for updating its nuclear deterrence strategies with South Korea
  • North Korean leader has prioritized his country’s ties to Russia in recent months, embracing the idea of a ‘new Cold War’
Updated 42 min 2 sec ago

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un renewed his call for a “limitless” expansion of his military nuclear program to counter US-led threats in comments reported Monday that were his first direct criticism toward Washington since Donald Trump’s win in the US presidential election.
At a conference with army officials on Friday, Kim condemned the United States for updating its nuclear deterrence strategies with South Korea and solidifying three-way military cooperation involving Japan, which he portrayed as an “Asian NATO” that was escalating tensions and instability in the region.
Kim also criticized the United States over its support of Ukraine against a prolonged Russian invasion. He insisted that Washington and its Western allies were using Ukraine as their “shock troops” to wage a war against Moscow and expand the scope of US military influence, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said.
Kim has prioritized his country’s ties to Russia in recent months, embracing the idea of a “new Cold War” and displaying a united front in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s broader conflicts with the West.
He has used Russia’s war on Ukraine as a distraction to accelerate the development of his nuclear-armed military, which now has various nuclear-capable systems targeting South Korea and intercontinental ballistic missiles that can potentially reach the US mainland.
Kim has yet to directly acknowledge that he has been providing military equipment and troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine and the KCNA’s report didn’t mention whether Kim made any comments toward Trump, whose election win has yet to be reported in the North’s state media.
Kim met Trump three times in 2018 and 2019 in Trump’s first presidency, but their diplomacy quickly collapsed over disagreements in exchanging the release of US-led sanctions and North Korean steps to wind down its nuclear and missile program. North Korea has since suspended any meaningful talks with Washington and Seoul as Kim ramped up his testing activity and military demonstrations in the face of what he portrayed as “gangster-like US threats.” There’s concern in Seoul that Kim in exchange for his military support of Russia would receive Russian technology in return to further develop his arsenal.
Trump’s election win has touched off speculation about a resumption of a summit-driven diplomacy with Kim, which was described by critics as a “bromance.” But some experts say a quick return to 2018 is highly unlikely, as too much has changed about the regional security situation and broader geopolitics since then.
While the North Korean nuclear problem was relatively an independent issue during Trump’s first term, it is now connected with broader challenges created by Russia’s war on Ukraine and further complicated by weakened sanctions enforcement against Pyongyang, Hwang Ildo, a professor at South Korea’s National Diplomatic Academy, wrote in a study last week.
North Korea’s nuclear and missile program is now much more advanced, which would increase Kim’s perception of his bargaining powers. Kim’s efforts to boost North Korea’s presence in a united front against Washington could also gain strength if Trump spikes tariffs and rekindles a trade war with China, the North’s main ally and economic lifeline, Hwang said.
Amid the stalemate in larger nuclear negotiations with Washington, Kim has been dialing up pressure on South Korea, abandoning his country’s long-standing goal of inter-Korean reconciliation and verbally threatening to attack the South with nukes if provoked.
Kim has also engaged in psychological and electronic warfare against South Korea, such as flying thousands of balloons to drop trash in the South and disrupting GPS signals from border areas near the South’s biggest airport.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea again flew trash-laden balloons toward the South early Monday and issued a statement warning the North “not to test our military’s patience any further.” The North has launched about 7,000 balloons toward the South since May, causing property damage but so far no injuries. On at least two occasions, trash carried by North Korea’s balloons fell on Seoul’s presidential compound, raising concerns about the vulnerability of key sites.

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Bangladesh to seek extradition of ousted Sheikh Hasina — government

Updated 48 min 34 sec ago
AFP
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Bangladesh to seek extradition of ousted Sheikh Hasina — government

  • Ex-PM Sheikh Hasina fled to India in August via helicopter as crowds stormed her palace
  • Hasina has been summoned to appear in court in Dhaka to face charges of “massacres, killings”
Updated 48 min 34 sec ago
AFP

DHAKA: Bangladesh will seek the extradition of ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina who was toppled in a revolution in August and fled to India, interim leader Muhammad Yunus said.
Dhaka has already issued an arrest warrant for 77-year-old Hasina — last seen arriving in neighboring India after fleeing by helicopter as crowds stormed her palace.
Hasina has been summoned to appear in court in Dhaka on Monday to face charges of “massacres, killings, and crimes against humanity,” but she remains in exile in India.
Yunus said his administration was focused on ensuring those guilty of cracking down on the protests to oust Hasina faced justice.
Several of her former government ministers, who were detained and held in custody, are expected in court to face similar charges.
“We have already taken initiatives to try those responsible for enforced disappearances, murders, and the mass killings during the July-August uprising,” Yunus said on Sunday.
The 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner was appointed to lead the government as “chief adviser” on August 9, days after the end of Hasina’s 15 years of iron-fisted rule.
Yunus, in a speech to the nation marking 100 days in power since a student-led revolution, said he had spoken to Karim Khan, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
“We will seek the extradition of the ousted autocrat from India,” Yunus said, referring to Hasina.
Earlier this month, Bangladesh said it would request an Interpol “red notice” alert for fugitive leaders of Hasina’s regime.
Red notices issued by the global police body alert law enforcement agencies worldwide about fugitives.
India is a member of Interpol, but the red notice does not mean New Delhi must hand Hasina over.
Member countries can “apply their own laws in deciding whether to arrest a person,” according to the group, which organizes police cooperation between 196 member countries.
Yunus, a microfinance pioneer, is leading a temporary administration to tackle what he has called the “extremely tough” challenge of restoring democratic institutions in the South Asian nation of around 170 million people.
He also begged the country’s “patience” to prepare for the much-awaited poll, vowing an election commission would be formed “within a few days.”
But Yunus said he could not give a timeframe for the elections, saying it was dependent on a raft of reforms.
“I promise that we will hold the much-anticipated election once the necessary and essential reforms are complete,” he said in the broadcast.
“I request your patience until then. We aim to build an electoral system that will endure for decades. For this, we need some time.”
Crisis Group analyst Thomas Kean has called the challenge facing Yunus “monumental,” warning of that “cracks are emerging in the fragile alliance” that pushed him into power.
“For now, Yunus and his colleagues have widespread support, but popular expectations are double-edged,” the thinktank said in a report on Thursday.
“If the interim administration falters in making reforms, the outcome is likely to be an early election with little progress; in the worst-case scenario, the military could assume power.”

Topics: Sheikh Hasina Wajid

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Woman-owned cafe in Indonesia’s Sharia stronghold shakes stigma
Indigenous Australian lawmaker who heckled King Charles censured
North Korean leader calls for expanding his nuclear forces in the face of alleged US threats

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