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🇰🇷 South Korea /Elections & Politics

Russia and North Korea: A Blood Alliance Forged by Desperation

From Hankyoreh · (5m ago) Korean Critical tone

Translated from Korean, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

TLDR

  • North Korea is Russia's only significant military ally, providing approximately 10,000 troops to fight in Ukraine and bolstering Russian defenses.
  • This reliance on North Korea highlights Russia's isolation and limited options, as other traditional allies offer little substantial support.
  • The deepening ties between Russia and North Korea stem from a shared animosity towards Western influence and international law, driven by desperation rather than genuine friendship.

The recent article in Hankyoreh, titled "Russia and North Korea, a Blood Alliance Forged by Desperation [World Window]," offers a stark analysis of the evolving geopolitical landscape. It highlights the increasingly close relationship between Russia and North Korea, driven not by ideological alignment or mutual benefit, but by sheer desperation on both sides.

Russia has only one true ally it can count on in the Ukraine war.

— John PepperIntroducing North Korea as Russia's sole significant military ally.

The piece points out that while China provides some crucial dual-use exports and Belarus offers territory, only North Korea has committed a significant number of troops to fight alongside Russian forces in Ukraine. The article notes the presence of around 10,000 North Korean soldiers and 1,000 engineers in Kursk, ostensibly to defend the Russian city but also freeing up Russian troops for offensive operations in Ukraine.

The fact that Russia must rely on a country as poor and isolated as North Korea in its moment of crisis is telling.

— John PepperHighlighting the desperation driving the Russia-North Korea relationship.

This reliance on a nation as impoverished and isolated as North Korea speaks volumes about Russia's diminished standing. The author, John Pepper, Senior Director of the US Foreign Policy Focus, suggests that Russia has few other viable options. Many of its former allies have faltered or are unable to provide meaningful support. Even China's assistance, while significant in certain high-tech sectors, falls short of enabling a decisive Russian victory, as Beijing prioritizes stability and its own global economic interests.

The new friendship with Russia, written in blood.

— Kim Jong UnKim Jong Un's praise for the relationship between North Korea and Russia.

The article posits that the shared disdain for Western norms, international law, and human rights conventions is the primary binding agent between Moscow and Pyongyang. Both nations feel constrained by a global order they increasingly resent. This shared grievance, coupled with their respective economic struggles and the unfavorable trajectory of the Ukraine war for Russia, has pushed them into an unprecedentedly close embrace. The author concludes that this alliance, though presented as a "blood oath," is fundamentally a product of mutual necessity rather than genuine affection.

Both countries are disgusted by all aspects of international law that restrict their freedom of action, whether it be human rights conventions or rules governing maritime commerce.

— John PepperExplaining the shared anti-Western sentiment as a unifying factor.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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