Tag: North Korea

Kim Jong-un has left on a rare state trip outside of North Korea to go cosplay with Emperor President Xi that the CCP defeated the Imperial Japanese during World War II:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has departed aboard an armored train to make his multilateral diplomatic debut in Beijing, where he will join Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other leaders.

North Korea’s state media early Tuesday confirmed that Kim had set off by private train on Monday to attend China’s ‘Victory Day’ celebrations.

The state-run Korean Central News Agency reported the news, citing a notice from Kim Chon-il, director of the department of press and information at North Korea’s Foreign Ministry.

According to the notice, the North Korean leader is accompanied by senior party and government officials, including Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui. However, state media did not provide further details, including the exact location of his departure.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

I have always supported radio broadcasts as a low cost way to penetrate North Korea’s information blockade of its people and the Lee administration has given it up for nothing in return:

South Korea has halted the broadcast of a propaganda radio program into North Korea, the defense ministry said Monday, as the South seeks to mend frayed ties with the North.

The move is the latest in Seoul’s reconciliatory gestures, with President Lee Jae Myung vowing to restore inter-Korean ties and resume dialogue with Pyongyang.

“The defense ministry has halted the ‘Voice of Freedom’ broadcast as part of efforts to ease inter-Korean military tensions,” the ministry said in a notice to reporters.

South Korea had aired K-pop and news into North Korea through the halted radio program. Last year, it broadcast news on North Korea’s deployment of troops to Russia in support of its war against Ukraine.

The ministry reportedly halted the broadcast starting earlier in the day, marking the first suspension of the radio program in 15 years. South Korea resumed the radio program in May 2010, following North Korea’s deadly attack on the South Korean naval corvette Cheonan.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

For both Kim Jong-un and Putin, the North Korean troop deployment to fight against Ukraine in Russia’s Kursk province has to now be considered a success. The Ukrianians lost a valuable negotiating piece by losing the land they gained in Kursk provice. Additionally many inexpendable Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the Kursk operation fighting very expendable North Korean soldiers:

This image captured on Aug. 30, 2025, shows the music video of the song titled “Remember,” aired by the Korean Central Television, highlighting the contributions made by North Korean troops in the Russia-Ukraine war. (Yonhap)

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un finalized his decision to deploy troops to support Russia in its war against Ukraine on Aug. 28 last year, shortly after Kyiv launched a surprise offensive into Kursk, a video released by the North’s state media showed Sunday.

The Korean Central Television recently released the music video of a song titled “Remember,” featuring North Korean soldiers who fought in Russia’s front-line region of Kursk.

The video’s background images include a document on a plan to “liberate” Kursk, ratified by Kim, as well as a scene of the leader in a white summer Mao suit presiding over a meeting with key military officials, including Pak Jong-chon, vice chairman of the ruling party’s Central Military Commission, and Ri Chang-ho, vice chief of the General Staff.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The axis of authoritarianism is meeting in China this week to pretend that the CCP had anything to do with helping to win World War II:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is set to take an initial step onto the multilateral diplomatic stage in China this week, with his planned trip to attend a military parade in Beijing setting the stage for a possible three-way summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

It will be the first time for Kim, who assumed power in late 2011, to attend a multilateral diplomatic event. His grandfather and the North’s founder Kim Il-sung attended a military parade in Beijing in 1959.

The decision by Kim to attend China’s military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, alongside Putin and Xi, was announced days after both South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump expressed their eagerness to resume diplomacy with North Korea in their high-stakes summit in Washington.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

If President Lee wants to stay on the good side of President Trump he should see what he can do to set up a meeting with Kim Jong-un:

 U.S. President Donald Trump indicated his willingness to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un before the end of the year, raising the possibility of a meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in South Korea later this year.

During his first summit with President Lee Jae Myung at the White House, Monday, Trump was asked by reporters whether he planned to meet the North Korean leader again. He responded that he hoped to do so, emphasizing that he “gets along great with him.”

“I look forward to meeting with Kim Jong-un in the appropriate future,” the U.S. president said.

Regarding the upcoming APEC Summit scheduled for the end of October in Gyeongju, South Korea, Trump said he’d love to come for the summit.

When presented with the possibility of meeting both Kim and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the APEC event, Trump described the idea as “interesting,” although he acknowledged it could be difficult to arrange.

“That’d be interesting. We’ll arrange a meeting between you and Kim Jong-un. Would you like that? I don’t know. That’s a very tough question right now. I don’t know where that question is leading. Anyway, look, I get along great with Kim Jong-un and whatever I can do, having to do with South Korea and getting people together, you should get together,” he said.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but Kim Jong-un would never travel to South Korea for a summit because domestically it would like he is being subservient to the U.S. and South Korea. What Trump might be able to do is a meeting at Panmunjom with Kim Jong-un like he has did previously where they look of equal standing. Optics are very important to the Kim regime.

I wonder if the development of these new missiles was helped by the Russians?:

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised the test-firing of two types of new antiair missiles, state media said Sunday, displaying his expanding military capabilities as the South Korean and U.S. militaries carry out joint drills.

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said the test Saturday proved the missiles effective in countering aerial threats such as drones and cruise missiles, and that Kim assigned unspecified “important” tasks to defense scientists ahead of a major political conference expected early next year. The report did not specify the missiles that were tested or where the event took place. It did not mention any remarks by Kim directed at Washington or Seoul.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It appears the North Koreans are probing to see what they can get away with along the DMZ under the new Lee administration:

Around 30 North Korean troops recently crossed the inter-Korean border despite warning broadcasts, triggering warning shots from the South Korean military, a spokesperson of the U.S.-led U.N. Command (UNC) said Sunday, citing its investigation into the incident.

The spokesperson made the remarks in response to a question from Yonhap News Agency, a day after North Korea berated the South Korean military for having fired more than 10 warning shots at North Korean troops who were conducting a border reinforcement project last week.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

How cute President Lee thinks he can get the Kim regime to denuclearize:

President Lee Jae Myung has said he will pursue a three-stage denuclearization plan for North Korea, with Seoul approaching such a strategy via active efforts for dialogue with Pyongyang based on the solid alliance with the United States. 

In an interview with Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun ahead of his visit to Tokyo for summit talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Lee said he will seek to freeze North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs in the first stage. 

In the second and final stage, Lee said he will seek to reduce and dismantle North Korea’s nuclear program, according to a script of the interview provided by the presidential office.

South Korea, while maintaining close coordination with the U.S., will actively pursue inter-Korean dialogue to establish conditions for the goal, Lee told the Japanese newspaper.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I am sure Lee knows that he has no chance of getting North Korea to denuclearize. That is why his plan first has pursuing a nuclear freeze deal. This is the only viable deal that can be pursued with North Korea at this time. A cap on the number of North Korean nuclear weapons and ICBMs in return for dropping sanctions might be something the Kim regime may go for.