Free Republic

North Korea's state television has aired footage of leader Kim Jong Un viewing, together with a delegation from Russia, an art performance honoring soldiers. A program broadcast on Monday by Korean Central Television featured Kim watching the performance together with Russian Minister of Culture Olga Lyubimova, who was visiting Pyongyang. Behind singers on stage singing a song honoring soldiers was a large screen displaying various images. They included photos of soldiers raising the national flags of both countries, as well as of Kim welcoming what appeared to be a flag-draped coffin and paying tribute. Some audience members from the two...

Cheering crowds and lavish ceremonies greeted Russian President Vladimir Putin in Pyongyang on Wednesday, where North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed “full support” for Russia’s war in Ukraine and pledged stronger strategic ties with Moscow.

The war in Ukraine has long been shaped by foreign support and intervention and supplies and funding from their allies has been a major source of Ukrainian endurance. But Russia has always had partners as well, and it looks like it may be North Korea, that is the first to take the step of sending large numbers of troops to support the war effort. In this episode I explore the reports around this claimed North Korean deployment, put it into the context of ongoing Russian offensives and the ongoing American election, and try to turn the focus to the DPRK's...

Democrat Vice-Presidential candidate Tim Walz pulled over for drunk driving in 1996... The US Supreme Court rejecting a Biden Administration push to foist transgender policies on school in 10 Republican run states... In the Netherlands a shortage of the chemotherapy drug etoposide... A bloody brawl in Turkey's parliament... In Kerch, Russia a municipal emergency following a Ukrainian missile attack on the bridge to Crimea... Secretary of State Antony Blinken will be in Israel tomorrow seeking to advance... A French fighter jet participating in an air show crashed today... Israel ordering two evacuations of civilians today in Gaza in advance of...

A major Russian telecommunications company appears to have begun providing an Internet connection to North Korea. The new link supplements one from China and will provide back-up to Pyongyang at a time the US government is reportedly attacking its Internet infrastructure and pressuring China to end all business with North Korea. The connection, from TransTeleCom, began appearing in Internet routing databases at 09:08 UTC on Sunday, or around 17:38 Pyongyang time on Sunday evening. Internet routing databases map the thousands of connections between telecom providers and enable computers to figure out the best route to a destination. Until now, Internet...

Despite efforts by the United Nations to impose isolating sanctions on North Korea in response to the country's continued development of nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles, trade between Russia and North Korea soared more than 85 percent in the first four months of the year.

Russia orders MASS EVACUATION over North Korea missile launch RUSSIA has dramatically relocated 1,500 people from its border with North Korea after Kim Jong-un's latest missile launch, it was reported today. By Joshua Nevett / Published 29th August 2017 Russian civil defence officials were reportedly ordered to shift residents in the country's far east to "safe areas" in a extraordinary move amid fears of a worldwide conflict. North Korea angered the international community by launching a missile that flew directly over Japan. In response, US President Donald Trump threatened the communist state with military action, warning "all options are on...

Russian Tupolev-95MS bombers flew over neutral waters accompanied by Sukhoi-35S fighter jets and an A-50 early warning and control aircraft, its defence ministry has said. It gave no details about the overall number of aircraft that had taken part in what it called a pre-arranged flight - or why the mission took place. The flight, which also included planes with advanced intelligence gathering capabilities, was announced on the same day as Moscow complained about the US-South Korean war games. Russia, which shares a border with North Korea, has repeatedly voiced concerns about rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula following Pyongyang's...

Russia and China joined diplomatic forces on Tuesday and called on North Korea, South Korea and the United States to sign up to a Chinese de-escalation plan designed to defuse tensions around Pyongyang's missile program. The plan would see North Korea suspend its ballistic missile program and the United States and South Korea simultaneously call a moratorium on large-scale missile exercises, both moves aimed at paving the way for multilateral talks.