Kim Jong Un – TheNewsHub https://thenewshub.in Sun, 03 Nov 2024 07:09:18 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7 North Korea’s aid to Russia raises difficult questions in China https://thenewshub.in/2024/11/03/north-koreas-aid-to-russia-raises-difficult-questions-in-china/ https://thenewshub.in/2024/11/03/north-koreas-aid-to-russia-raises-difficult-questions-in-china/?noamp=mobile#respond Sun, 03 Nov 2024 07:09:18 +0000 https://thenewshub.in/2024/11/03/north-koreas-aid-to-russia-raises-difficult-questions-in-china/

Officials from China have avoided direct comment on North Korea’s despatch of thousands of troops to Russia, where they might help in a conflict that all three countries see as a contest against overweening American might. China itself is a crucial if undeclared backer of Russia’s war effort in Ukraine, providing technological support for Russia’s defence industries. But behind closed doors, Chinese officials may question North Korea’s move.

To celebrate their forging of diplomatic relations 75 years ago, China and North Korea describe 2024 as a “year of friendship”. China insists that their ties are “as close as lips and teeth”. But on Chinese social media—which are normally heavily censored to skew opinion in favour of authoritarian countries—some netizens with large followings have been wondering whether North Korea may have harmed China’s interests.

On October 24th, a day after America said there was evidence that North Korean troops were in Russia, a Chinese foreign-ministry spokesman said “China does not have information on that.” On Weibo, a microblogging site, a reporter for state media, Zhao Lingmin, told her more than 1m followers that this indicated China had not been informed in advance of North Korea’s action, “which is clearly a sign of disrespect”. Qiu Zhenhai, a well-known political commentator with nearly 2m followers on Weibo, went further. “So, who is the biggest direct victim in this situation? It’s China,” he said. He fretted about the possibility of Russia returning the favour by helping North Korea in a war on the Korean peninsula that could result in nuclear conflict on China’s doorstep.

Many analysts agree that China is peeved by North Korea’s apparent tilt towards Russia. Since last year the two countries’ leaders, Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin, have exchanged chummy visits. These have resulted not only in the deployment of North Korean troops (on October 28th NATO’s new chief, Mark Rutte, said they had been sent to the Kursk region of Russia, which Ukraine has invaded), but also massive shipments to Russia of North Korean shells and missiles. In return, Russia is providing North Korea with economic and military aid, Western officials believe. “The Chinese always like to say that they have no influence over North Korea, but they guard their influence,” says Victor Cha of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a think-tank in Washington. He says China has “lost control” there.

Chinese officials may fear that Mr Kim will become less reliant on their country, which has long been North Korea’s largest trading partner. Emboldened by Russia’s support, he may also become more provocative in his dealings with South Korea. China has more at stake than Russia in preserving stability on the Korean peninsula. A conflict there could have a big impact on Chinese cities close to the border. China, which has a defence treaty with North Korea, may even get dragged in. If things kicked off, China would want to keep American power at bay, as it did during the Korean war of 1950-53.

Kim Jong Un-interested

North Korea-watchers note signs that Mr Kim is cooling towards China. Andrei Lankov of Kookmin University in Seoul says that North Korean media now publish far more articles about Russia than about China. In July North Korea did not send a senior official to a celebration by the Chinese embassy in Pyongyang of the anniversary of the China-North Korea treaty. Messages exchanged between the two countries to congratulate each other on 75 years of diplomatic ties have been shorter than in the past, some analysts observe.

Despite China’s concerns about Russia’s relationship with North Korea, it is pleased to see the West distracted, divided and fatigued by the war in Ukraine. China may even sense an opportunity. It may try to exploit Western hopes that it could help rein in North Korean support for Russia, says Seong-Hyon Lee of the Harvard University Asia Centre. “China will demand a price for that,” he says. But even if it is willing to try, China may find it hard to bend Mr Kim to its will.

© 2024, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com

 

]]>
https://thenewshub.in/2024/11/03/north-koreas-aid-to-russia-raises-difficult-questions-in-china/feed/ 0
North Korea’s Kim threatens to use nukes if attacked https://thenewshub.in/2024/10/04/north-koreas-kim-threatens-to-use-nukes-if-attacked/ https://thenewshub.in/2024/10/04/north-koreas-kim-threatens-to-use-nukes-if-attacked/?noamp=mobile#respond Fri, 04 Oct 2024 13:45:45 +0000 https://thenewshub.in/2024/10/04/north-koreas-kim-threatens-to-use-nukes-if-attacked/

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country would use nuclear weapons “without hesitation” if attacked by the South and ally the United States, state media reported on Friday.

Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in decades, with Seoul this week staging a military parade where it showcased its bunker-busting “monster” missile and President Yoon Suk Yeol warned Kim that using nukes would mean the end of his regime.

Pyongyang has also been bombarding the South with balloons carrying bags of trash, and a fresh flurry was seen floating over Seoul early on Friday by AFP reporters. Seoul’s military confirmed it had detected the balloon launches overnight.

If an enemy’s forces were “encroaching upon the sovereignty” of the North, Pyongyang would “use without hesitation all the offensive forces it has possessed, including nuclear weapons,” Kim said, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

Images in state media showed Kim, clad in his customary leather jacket, speaking at a training event for special operations forces.

There, he slammed Yoon for his “end of regime” comments and “clamouring” about his country’s alliance with the United States.

Seoul, which does not have nuclear weapons of its own, is covered by the US nuclear umbrella, and Washington has stationed tens of thousands of troops in the country since the Korean War ended in 1953 without a peace treaty.

Kim said it was Seoul and Washington who were “destroying regional security and peace”, KCNA reported, while branding South Korea’s leader “an abnormal man”.

Military parade

On Tuesday, fighter jets flew over downtown Seoul and tanks rolled through the streets, as South Korea displayed for the first time its largest ballistic missile, the Hyunmoo-5, which is capable of destroying underground bunkers.

An American B-1B heavy bomber also staged a flyover of the ceremony early Tuesday, flanked by F-15K jets.

Washington periodically deploys nuclear assets to the Korean peninsula, underscoring its protection of the South from Pyongyang’s growing threats.

At the event marking South Korea’s Armed Forces Day, Yoon said that if the North “attempts to use nuclear weapons, it will face the resolute and overwhelming response of our military and the US and Republic of Korea alliance.”

“That day will be the end of the North Korean regime,” he added.

North Korea is expected to to scrap a landmark inter-Korean agreement signed in 1991 at a parliamentary meeting next week, Seoul’s unification ministry said Wednesday, as part of Kim’s drive to officially define the South as an enemy state.

Earlier this year, Kim called to remove unification-related clauses from the constitution, while abolishing agencies dedicated to improving ties with the South.

Last month, the North also disclosed images of a uranium enrichment facility for the first time, showing leader Kim touring the site as he called for more centrifuges to boost the country’s nuclear arsenal.

South Korea’s spy agency later said the unprecedented disclosure was “directed at the US” and that North Korea was believed capable of producing a double-digit number of nuclear weapons.

Last week, a lawmaker told reporters that the National Intelligence Service had warned the North might carry out another nuclear test — its seventh — after the US elections in November.

]]>
https://thenewshub.in/2024/10/04/north-koreas-kim-threatens-to-use-nukes-if-attacked/feed/ 0