Category: North Korea

This was very predictable that North Korea would be preparing a provocation that coincides with the U.S. presidential election:

Military officials attend a parliamentary audit of the Defense Intelligence Agency at the National Assembly in Seoul on Oct. 30, 2024. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

North Korea has completed preparations to launch a long-range missile and has put a mobile launcher in place, South Korea’s military intelligence agency said Wednesday.

The Defense Intelligence Agency gave the assessment during a parliamentary audit, noting the launch could take place before or after the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 5.

“It appears that preparations are nearly complete for an ICBM-class long-range missile, including a space launch vehicle,” the DIA said, according to Rep. Lee Seong-kweun of the ruling People Power Party and Rep. Park Sun-won of the main opposition Democratic Party.

“Preparations for a transporter erector launcher are complete, and it has been deployed to a certain area,” the agency added, though it said no missile has been mounted yet.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the initial wave of 1,500 North Korean special operations troops sent to Russia are going to be used to try and help push Ukrainian troops out of the Russian territory of Kursk:

 Russia is using civilian-plated trucks to transport “mercenaries” from North Korea to a frontline area, Ukraine’s military intelligence service has said, amid concerns over North Korean troops possibly joining combat in Russia’s war on Ukraine.

On Sunday, Russian police officers stopped a truck with civilian license plates carrying North Korean military personnel on the Kursk-Voronezh highway, the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine said, noting the driver did not have a combat order.

The announcement comes amid reports of North Korean troops gathering in Russia’s southwestern region of Kursk, where a major Ukrainian incursion took place in August.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

A few years ago who would have imagined that North Korean troops and their flag would be flying over a Eastern European country?:

A pro-Russia Telegram account has posted a photo showing the Russian and North Korean flags side by side on a Ukrainian battlefield, indicating that North Korea has likely sent troops to support Russia in its prolonged war with Ukraine.

The image, shared by a blogger named @rvvoenkor_bot on Monday, showed the two flags raised together over a mine in Pokrovsk, one of the strongholds on Ukraine’s eastern front.

The blogger said that the North Korean flag has recently been raised on a hill at the mine near the city, which is one of the suspected locations where North Korean soldiers are believed to be stationed.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

North Korea kind of does have a point, it can do what it wants with things on their sovereign territory:

North Korea accused U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres of “double standards” Sunday, saying he urged Pyongyang to exercise restraint following its destruction of inter-Korean roads while remaining silent about South Korea’s alleged drone infiltration into the North.

Kim Son-gyong, North Korea’s vice foreign minister for international organizations, issued the statement after Guterres called for efforts to ease tensions and resume dialogue after the North blew up roads and rail lines on its side of the heavily fortified border on Tuesday. 

“I express deep displeasure over and categorically reject the remarks of interfering in the internal affairs” of North Korea, Kim said in the statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency.

Kim claimed the destruction of roads and rail lines within its territory falls under North Korea’s “sovereign right from A to Z” and should not be subject to interference from the U.N. secretary-general.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It will be interesting to see when these large formations of North Korean Soldiers begin appearing on the frontlines in Ukraine:

A satellite image provided by the National Intelligence Service on Oct. 18, 2024, shows a Russian naval vessel suspected of transporting North Korean troops from the northeastern port of Chongjin. 

One of the three pictures that South Korea’s intelligence agency disclosed as evidence of North Korea’s troop deployment to Russia was captured by a satellite that the South has been operating, a government source said Sunday.

Two of the three photos were attributed to Airbus, a global satellite imagery provider, but the third was not attributed when the National Intelligence Service (NIS) presented them Friday while confirming the North’s deployment of troops to Russia for its war in Ukraine.

Disclosing the satellite images, the NIS said that the North has decided to send around 12,000 troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine and has already deployed 1,500 special forces troops to Vladivostok.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It is looking more and more likely that Putin has found some more fresh meat to throw into the Ukrainian grinder:

North Korea is likely to deploy members of its regular armed forces to Ukraine in support of Russia, South Korea’s defense chief said Tuesday, in the latest sign of deepening military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow.

The assessment came as North Korea has been seeking to bolster ties with Russia, highlighted by a bilateral agreement that includes a mutual defense clause, signed by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin at summit talks in June.

“As Russia and North Korea have signed a mutual treaty akin to a military alliance, the possibility of such a deployment is highly likely,” Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun told lawmakers during a parliamentary audit session.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.