Category: Korea

Putin’s North Korean escalation is a direct result of Western weakness

Pentagon officials and NATO chief Mark Rutte have this week confirmed that thousands of North Korean troops are currently in the process of joining Russia’s war against Ukraine. The arrival of North Korean soldiers on the battlefields of Europe is an historically unprecedented event that represents a major escalation in the largest European invasion since

Putin is making the most of a distracted and divided United States

Russian President Vladimir Putin is moving on several fronts simultaneously, both military and political, to take advantage of a United States that is distracted and divided ahead of next week’s presidential election. Putin’s risky move to bring thousands of North Korean soldiers to Russia to fight Ukraine, and his doubling down to push for pro-Kremlin

North Korean troops could help Putin avoid a risky Russian mobilization

North Korea has sent troops to Russia, United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed on October 23. Austin is the latest senior Western official to raise the alarm over the deployment of North Korean soldiers to Russia amid fears that the Hermit Kingdom is poised to participate directly in Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian President

Axis of Autocrats: North Korea’s escalating role in Russia’s Ukraine War

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused North Korea of preparing to send thousands of soldiers to join the Russian invasion of his country, and is calling for a “strong response” from the international community. “In fact, another state is joining the war against Ukraine,” Zelenskyy commented during his traditional daily video address on Sunday evening.

Cho quoted in the Diplomat on geopolitical tensions in East Asia

Original Source On July 18, IPSI nonresident senior fellow Sungmin Cho was quoted in the Diplomat regarding heightened geopolitical tensions in East Asia and the implications for South Korea. He emphasized the increased risk of unconventional action by an emboldened Kim Jong Un, such as terrorist attacks on South Korean infrastructure and civilians.  Fellow Sungmin

The troubling significance of Putin’s Pyongyang deal

TAIPEI, Taiwan—Watching Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Pyongyang summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un from the vantage point of this at-risk democracy’s capital makes the significance of the meeting all the more terrifying. It isn’t so much the contents of the new Putin-Kim agreement, which depending on who you listen to is either a

Cho in War on the Rocks

Original Source On April 4, IPSI Nonresident Senior Fellow Sungmin Cho published a piece in War on the Rocks suggesting that a crisis in northeast Asia is more likely to start on the Korean Peninsula than in Taiwan. Fellow Sungmin Cho Nonresident Senior Fellow Indo-Pacific Security Initiative Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security China Defense