Hopefully the Russians got a cheap price for these North Korean artillery rounds which are apparently not very reliable:
While North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has supported Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war effort, weapons produced in his country have apparently been turned against Russian forces.
The Financial Times reported Friday that Ukraine has been launching unpredictable, North Korean-made rockets at Russian troops. Ukrainian soldiers manning multiple-launch rocket systems near Bakhmut showed the weapons to the outlet.
A Ukrainian artillery commander told FT his troops don’t like using the weapons, which were made in the 1980s and ’90s, because they can often misfire or fail to explode. One soldier said, “They are very unreliable and do crazy things sometimes.”
Dictatorship 101 says to put large portraits of yourself everywhere and for Putin he even has the North Koreans putting up his picture now. This is a bit surprising because it makes North Korea look like a vassal state:
Kim Jong Un decorated his walls with huge portraits of Russian President Vladimir Putin during a tour of a state office building, state media images show.
The portraits were visible as the North Korean leader gave a personal tour to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
Shoigu was attending a banquet at the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party headquarters in Pyongyang, per the Daily Mail. It comes as the country celebrated the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, which took place from 1950 to 1953.
In the bizarre images, Kim and Shoigu can be seen walking down a corridor while huge portraits of Putin and Kim loom over them from either side.
N. Korea holds military parade marking war anniversary North Korean soldiers march during a military parade, attended by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, at Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang on the night of July 27, 2023, to mark the 70th anniversary of the signing of the armistice that halted the 1950-53 Korean War, in this photo released the next day by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency. (Yonhap)
Lt. Gen. Harrison, current @UN_Command Deputy Commander: "The Republic of Korea and the challenges on the peninsula, in my view, have moved with excellent pace from being a regional problem … to one that is now global. The range of weapons that are now in place in DPRK …… pic.twitter.com/PbCSy2Lxqs
Look who turned up in Pyongyang, the guy who just few weeks ago fled Moscow in fear of an overweight caterer turned mercenary boss:
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (R) shakes hands with North Korean Defense Minister Kang Sun-nam after arriving in Pyongyang on July 25, 2023, in this photo released by the North’s Korean Central News Agency. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu held talks with his North Korean counterpart, Kang Sun-nam, in Pyongyang on Wednesday and expressed his determination to boost bilateral ties, Russian media reported.
Shoigu arrived in the North Korean capital Tuesday for a three-day visit to attend commemorative events to mark the 70th anniversary of the 1950-53 Korean War armistice.
“I am confident that today’s talks will help strengthen cooperation between our defense ministries,” TASS quoted Shoigu as saying.
The North is set to hold commemorative events for the landmark anniversary of the signing of the armistice on July 27, 1953, which is celebrated in the country as Victory Day.
I lay out some precedents of N. Korea's "hostage-diplomacy-and-release" at times of its calculated escalation. Each time, the release entails a cost, political or monetary–or both. Congrats to @TheMessenger for the exclusives on the Travis King case. https://t.co/ScTYG7PZnn
I wonder if Private King now wishes he got on the aircraft last week?:
State Department Press Secretary Matthew Miller is seen answering questions during a daily press briefing at the department in Washington on July 24, 2023 in this captured image. (Yonhap)
The United States has not had any substantive response from North Korea about the safety of a U.S. service member who crossed the inter-Korean border into the reclusive state last week, a state department spokesperson said Monday.
Matthew Miller also said the North has not responded to any requests, including those from United Nations Command (UNC), to confirm the whereabouts or well-being of the U.S. soldier.
“It is my understanding that there have been no new communication since last week. communications that happened in the early days,” the department spokesperson told a daily press briefing when asked if there has been any communication with North Korea.
You can read more at the link, but King will be used as a bargaining chip at some point when North Korea needs to use him. They just don’t need to play that card yet.
North Korea appears to be launching an offensive on the fish of the East Sea as they fire two more ballistic missiles:
North Korea fired two ballistic missiles into the East Sea late Monday, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
“Our military detected two ballistic missiles North Korea fired from areas near Pyongyang into the East Sea at 11:55 p.m. on the 24th and at midnight of the 25th,” it said.
Both missiles flew about 400 kilometers before falling into the sea, it added.
The military is still analyzing the North’s latest missile launch to determine the exact type of the missiles fired, according to the JCS.
