Pariah Kim Jong Un has little to lose in his meeting with Putin – but a lot to gain
A rare summit between reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russia’s Vladimir Putin underlines a growing pariah alliance that could impact global security.
Moscow, locked in a bloody war of attrition with Ukraine and squeezed by an unprecedented array of Western sanctions, is desperate to secure large quantities of munitions, including artillery shells and bullets, to fire at Ukrainian lines.
Such an arsenal of weaponry is one of the few things Pyongyang can provide.
In return, the isolated state, also heavily sanctioned and intent on developing ever-more technologically advanced missiles, will be seeking promises of support to feed its suffering population, boost its economy and assist its arms programmes.
That Kim has decided to venture out of North Korea by train to meet Putin in eastern Russia indicates that long-running, secretive talks between the two sides are set to produce a new deal of mutual convenience.
The UK, the United States and other Western allies will be watching closely.
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Putin has limited options
Washington has warned of further sanctions if North Korea does agree to send more arms to Russia for the war in Ukraine.
Pyongyang has already provided certain munitions, but this leader-level meeting signals a much more ambitious offering is on the table.
Moscow knows too well that it needs more weapons to sustain the current level of combat in Ukraine, which has seen millions of artillery shells fired since February 2022.
Russian industry has already ramped up its domestic capacity to produce ammunition, but the level falls far short of what the armed forces require.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu during a visit in July
Russia’s ability to turn to the international market for weapons has been severely curtailed by Western sanctions, meaning Putin has limited options.
Close ally Iran has already stepped up to provide large quantities of bullets and a range of artillery shells, as well as drones.
However, efforts to secure weapons from Russia’s most powerful friend, China, have yet to deliver any meaningful results amid warnings from the West over military cooperation.
It makes this warming of ties with North Korea all the more troubling from a Western perspective because of the large amounts of North Korean munitions potentially on offer.
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Two states united in notoriety
Pyongyang, already a pariah state, has little to lose and a lot to gain by offering increased support to Moscow.
The threat of even more Western sanctions will be of little deterrence if it is able to guarantee sanctions-busting assistance from Russia.
United in notoriety, North Korea is one of only a handful of countries that supported Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
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The North’s one-man ruler has terrorised South Korea and the wider region with ever more menacing missile tests and rhetoric.
The 1950 to 1953 Korean War ended in a ceasefire but remains a frozen conflict, with North and South Korea still bristling with weapons and soldiers.
United Nations sanctions, aimed at curbing North Korean weapons programmes, have cut the country off from most of the rest of the world.
Rather than back down, the North Korean leader has continued to focus his limited resources on developing and test-firing missiles at the expense of his long-suffering people.
The COVID pandemic further reinforced their isolation and desperation.
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Kim Jong Un shows off weapons to Shoigu
Today, the country urgently needs food supplies and income – two things Russia could provide in return for munitions.
Kim will also be looking for Russian technological support in advancing his military lethality, including a nuclear weapons programme and spy satellites.
Only last week, it was revealed that Pyongyang has launched its first operational “tactical nuclear attack submarine” and assigned it to the fleet that patrols the waters between the Korean peninsula and Japan.
State media reported Kim saying that Submarine No. 841 – named Hero Kim Kun Ok after a North Korean historical figure – will be one of the main “underwater offensive means of the naval force” of North Korea.
Israel has approved a plan to capture all of the Gaza Strip and remain there for an unspecified length of time, Israeli officials say.
According to Reuters, the plan includes distributing aid, though supplies will not be let in yet.
The Israeli official told the agency that the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza’s civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’s hands.
On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.
Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to achieve his goal of destroying Hamas or returning all the hostages, despite more than a year of brutal war in Gaza.
Palestinian children struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza. Pic: AP
Officials say the plan will help with these war aims but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
They said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories”.
It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza.
The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.
It said it “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy”.
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IDF reservists call for end to war in Gaza
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More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since the IDF launched its ground offensive in the densely-populated territory, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
It followed the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
A fragile ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners collapsed earlier this year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” after the group launched a missile attack on the country’s main international airport.
A missile fired by the group from Yemen landed near Ben Gurion Airport, causing panic among passengers in the terminal building.
“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on X. “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”
Israeli police officers investigate the missile crater. Pic: Reuters
The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly halted flights and commuter traffic at the airport. Some international carriers have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv for several days.
Four people were lightly wounded, paramedic service Magen David Adom said.
Air raid sirens went off across Israel and footage showed passengers yelling and rushing for cover.
The attack came hours before senior Israeli cabinet ministers were set to vote on whether to intensify the country’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, and as the army began calling up thousands of reserves in anticipation of a wider operation in the enclave.
Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the group fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the airport.
Iran’s defence minister later told a state TV broadcaster that if the country was attacked by the US or Israel, it would target their bases, interests and forces where necessary.
Israel’s military said several attempts to intercept the missile were unsuccessful.
Air, road and rail traffic were halted after the attack, police said, though it resumed around an hour later.
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Yemen’s Houthis have been firing missiles at Israel since its war with Hamas in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, and while most have been intercepted, some have penetrated the country’s missile defence systems and caused damage.
Israel has previously struck the group in Yemen in retaliation and the US and UK have also launched strikes after the Houthis began attacking international shipping, saying it was in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas.
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