Category: Russia

I can’t feel sympathy from anyone from the western aligned world who gets arrested while visiting or living in Russia. It is well known the risks of becoming detained whenever Russia needs a hostage:

The detention of a South Korean national by Russian authorities on espionage allegations has emerged as a significant diplomatic challenge for Seoul, particularly against the backdrop of strained relations between the two nations.

Observers suggest that the detainee could be caught up in Russia’s hostage diplomacy tactics, and anticipate that the situation could drag on for months, if not years. Moreover, this incident could signal a shift in Russia’s stance toward North Korean defectors, particularly considering the detainee’s purported involvement in assisting North Korean workers in the far eastern region of Russia.

Earlier this week, the Russian state-owned media outlet TASS agency reported that a South Korean man named Baek Kwang-soon, aged 53, was apprehended in January on charges of espionage in Vladivostok. He was subsequently transferred to Moscow’s Lefortovo detention facility in February, typically reserved for high-profile political detainees. The Lefortovsky Court has extended his detention until June 15.

This marks the first known case of a South Korean national being arrested on espionage charges in Russia, where such offenses carry penalties of up to 20 years in prison.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It will be interesting to see how many of these refugee from Russia that South Korea ends up accepting:

A record number of Russians are seeking asylum in South Korea, according to South Korean authorities, with applications surging fivefold last year as Russians became the largest group seeking refuge in the East Asian country.

A total of 5,750 Russian nationals sought asylum in South Korea in 2023, according to a report released earlier this month by the Korean Immigration Service. That’s five times higher than the 1,038 who sought protection in 2022 – and more than the total number of asylum applications from Russians recorded between 1994 and 2019.

Last year also marked the highest number of overall asylum applications for at least the past eight years, according to the Immigration Service. After Russians, the largest groups of asylum seekers came from Kazakhstan, China and Malaysia.

The bromance between Putin and Kim continues:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has received a Russian-made luxury car from Russian President Vladimir Putin as a gift demonstrating the special bonds between the two leaders, state media reported Tuesday.

The gift serves as a “clear demonstration of the special personal relations between the two leaders and as the best one,” according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Russia conveyed the vehicle for Kim’s personal use Sunday to Pak Jong-chon, a secretary of the ruling Worker’s Party of Korea, and Kim Yo-jong, the sister of the North’s leader. She delivered Kim Jong-un’s thanks to Putin to the Russian side, the report said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Now the Russians are making nuclear threats on behalf of the Kim regime:

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, greets North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui in a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow on Jan. 16. [AP/YONHAP]

Russia’s top envoy to Pyongyang said that North Korea may decide to conduct a seventh nuclear test if the United States continues taking “provocative steps” in the region. 
  
“I think whether or not there will be another nuclear experiment in North Korea depends on how the military-political situation on the peninsula will unfold,” Russian Ambassador to North Korea Aleksandr Matsegora said in an interview with Russia’s state-controlled TASS news agency Wednesday.  

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Considering the reported weapons deal between Russia and North Korea the fact that the Russian military is using cheaply made North Korean missiles should not be a suprise:

A man photographs parts of an unidentified missile, which Ukrainian authorities believe to be made in North Korea and was used in a strike in Kharkiv earlier this week, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Jan. 6. Reuters-Yonhap

The Kharkiv region prosecutor’s office provided further evidence on Saturday that Russia attacked Ukraine with missiles supplied by North Korea, showcasing the fragments.

A senior adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday that Russia hit Ukraine this week with missiles supplied by North Korea for the first time during its invasion.

Dmytro Chubenko, spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office, said the missile, one of several that hit the city of Kharkiv on Jan. 2, was visually and technically different from Russian models.

“The production method is not very modern. There are deviations from standard Iskander missiles, which we previously saw during strikes on Kharkiv. This missile is similar to one of the North Korean missiles,” Chubenko told media as he displayed the remnants.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Here is how the Russians moved all the arms they received from North Korea into Russia for further movement to the battlefields of Ukraine:

This image, provided by the U.S. government, shows apparent arms transfers between North Korea and Russia. (Yonhap)

Two Russian ships made at least five round trips between North Korea and Russia, beginning mid-August, in what could be arms transfers, the Washington Post reported Monday, citing satellite imagery.

Based on analysis by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a London-based think tank, the ships have been travelling between the northeastern North Korean port of Najin and a port facility in Dunay in Russia’s Far East between mid-August and Saturday.

The analysis came after the U.S. government revealed Friday that the North shipped more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions to Russia in recent weeks for use in Ukraine, highlighting burgeoning military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Analysts seems to be agreeing with my assessment that Russia will likely focus on providing assistance with improving North Korea’s space program in return for shipping artillery shells to help fight Ukraine:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is given a tour around Russia’s strategic bombers and other warplanes by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, second from left, and other Russian officials in Vladivostok, Saturday, in this photo released by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency, Sunday. Yonhap

The recent burgeoning military cooperation between North Korea and Russia has sparked concerns about the potential transfer of nuclear weapons technologies from Moscow to Pyongyang, but that is unlikely to happen, according to analysts, Sunday.

Later in the day, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un departed from the Russian Far East city of Artyom, completing his six-day visit to Russia, during which the two nations vowed to bolster partnerships focusing on military cooperation. 

A bulletproof train carrying Kim at the Primorsky-1 railway station was seen off by an honor guard of the Eastern Military District and the military band of the headquarters of the Pacific Fleet, according to Russia’s state-run Tass news agency. Since entering Russia last Tuesday for his first trip abroad in more than four years, Kim had met Russian President Vladimir Putin and visited key military and technology sites. 

“I think there may be some cooperation on space programs and lower-level military kinds of exchanges and assistance. I do wonder though, how much sensitive technology Putin is willing to give to North Korea,” Terence Roehrig, a professor at the U.S. Naval War College, told The Korea Times, Sunday. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It is pretty clear that North Korea expects help from Russia to jump start their space program in return for the arms they are about to export to them in support of their war in Ukraine:

This AFP photo shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (C) smiling during their meeting at the Vostochny Cosmodrome space center in Russia’s Amur region on Sept. 13, 2023. (Yonhap)

 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Wednesday pledged to throw his full support behind Russian President Vladimir Putin as the two isolated leaders held a rare summit at Russia’s rocket launch facility, as concerns grow over a possible arms deal between Pyongyang and Moscow.

Proposing a toast at an official dinner after the summit, Kim told Putin that the Russian army and people will triumph over “evil” forces, in apparent endorsement of its war in Ukraine. 

Kim said he was confident that Russia will win a great victory in the “sacred” struggle to punish the “evil” with hegemonic pretensions. The summit came amid concerns that the two countries may advance arms negotiations and bolster military cooperation.

Kim, via a translator, added that he is deeply convinced that the Russian army and people will demonstrate their priceless virtues of honor in the apparent “special military operation” in Ukraine and building a strong state.

Following the summit talks held at the Vostochny space center in Russia’s Amur region, Putin told a local news channel that he sees prospects for military and technical cooperation with the North.

Putin also announced that Kim will travel to Komsomolsk-on-Amur and Vladivostok in Russia’s Far East after the summit.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but since Kim Jong-un has jumped out and supported preemptive wars he shouldn’t complain in the future if a “special military operation” is launched against him.

According to the article the invasion of Ukraine has cost Hyundai $374 million in lost sales in Russia:

Hyundai Motor’s plant in St. Petersburg, Russia / Courtesy of Hyundai Motor

Hyundai Motor saw its sales plunge to an all-time low in Russia last month, according to the Association of European Business (AEB), Sunday. 

The association said Hyundai Motor sold only six vehicles in August, which accounts for 0.01 percent of the Russian market share, down 99.9 percent from 2,982 cars a year earlier.

“I’m not quite sure if the company managed to sell even six,” an automobile industry official said. “It is virtually kicking the dirt there.”

The carmaker sold 1,605 cars in Russia during the first eight months this year, a 96.5 percent-drop from the same period last year. The largely botched business this year allowed the company just 0.4 percent of the Russian market share. 

Hyundai’s lackluster performance is as dramatic as its former prominence in the market before the Russian Invasion of Ukraine in February last year. With its factory in St. Petersburg ― the only one in Russia ― pipelining 220,000 vehicles each year, including popular models like Solaris and Creta, its market share in the country used to be top over all.

But the invasion upended business for Hyundai’s Russian office. While rival foreign brands there vacated the country, Hyundai remained and kept producing cars until July 2022. At the end of that year, the company had sold 45,000 cars. Since 2012, the company sold over 200,000 cars annually.

Hyundai’s Russian factory finally gave up and ceased manufacturing operations this year.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.