As its invasion of Ukraine approaches its seventh month, North Korea is indicating an interest in sending construction workers to the Russian-controlled portions of Ukraine to assist the Kremlin's attempts to reconstruct the war-ravaged territories.
Pyongyang's ambassador to Moscow recently met with representatives from two Russia-backed separatist areas in Ukraine's Donbas region, expressing confidence about cooperation in the sector of labor mobility, noting his country's relaxing of strict border checks.
Russian Officials May Hire North Korean Workers in Ukraine
Senior Russian officials and diplomats publicly support the proposal, which envisions cheap and hardworking labor that might be pushed into the most grueling conditions, as Russia's envoy to North Korea put it in a recent interview.
According to Rebekah Koffler, a former US DIA intelligence officer focused on Russia and the author of "Putin's Playbook: Russia's Secret Plan to Defeat America," Putin is attempting to show that Russia is not completely isolated and still has friends around the world despite stringent sanctions and pressure resulting from the invasion of Ukraine.
The meetings occurred after North Korea became the only country, aside from Russia and Syria, to recognize the independence of Ukraine's separatist Donetsk and Luhansk regions in July, further aligning itself with Russia in the Ukraine crisis, according to Fox News.
Meanwhile, South Korea, Japan, and the United States have agreed to tough measures in response to a second nuclear test by North Korea, according to South Korea's top security advisor, who added that the nations' reaction will be different from previous ones.
Kim Sung-han made the statements during a trilateral meeting in Honolulu with his US and Japanese colleagues, Jake Sullivan and Takeo Akiba. Seoul and Washington have previously stated that the North looks to have finished all preparations for a nuclear test and that it may simply be evaluating the time.
Pyongyang carried out its sixth and last nuclear test in September 2017. Kim Sung-han declined to elaborate on any particular actions the three nations may take in response to a new North Korean nuclear test, but said they will be maximized in making Pyongyang know that conducting a seventh nuclear test was a poor decision.
The three-way meeting of South Korea's, Japan's, and the United States' top national security advisers was the first of its sort in 16 months, and the first since Kim assumed office earlier this year, Korea Herald reported.
South Korea Believes China, Russia Are Key For North's Denuclearization
The failure of China and Russia to strengthen UN sanctions against North Korea is the biggest impediment to removing the North's nuclear weapons, according to a top South Korean official, as the North prepares to conduct its first nuclear test in five years.
China and Russia, which have strong connections with North Korea and are at odds with the US, have previously blocked a US-led effort to impose more sanctions on North Korea for its missile launches this year. This raises concerns that North Korea may avoid punishment even if it conducts a more serious provocation, such as a nuclear test explosion, which is prohibited by UN resolutions.
Shin agreed to the interview ahead of the annual security meeting held by South Korea, which will focus on collaboration on how to accomplish North Korean disarmament and other regional challenges. The event, which will take place from September 6 to 8, will bring together senior defense officials and specialists from more than 50 nations. Since its inception in 2012, North Korea has never taken part in the Seoul Defense Dialogue.
The meeting comes four months after South Korea's new conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol entered office, promising to be tougher on North Korean provocations while still strengthening the military partnership with the US.
Yoon's North Korea strategy has made little success so far, with Pyongyang lately flatly rejecting his offers to provide economic advantages in exchange for disarmament steps and threatening to deploy nuclear weapons in prospective battles with South Korea and the US. Some fear that Yoon's drive to strengthen the US alliance may result in economic reprisal from China, South Korea's largest trade partner, as per Washington Post.
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