Putin Signs Military Assistance Deal With North Korea

On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a military assistance pact with North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un during the former’s visit to Pyongyang.

The deal promises “immediate military assistance” from either should the other be attacked. Due to Russia’s vast size compared to North Korea, this seemingly provides a security guarantee to the latter, though it is unclear what exact form the promised “protection” and “military and other assistance” would take should hostilities on the Korean peninsula break out. Kim described the treaty as an “alliance,” although Putin did not. 

While many of the terms are still unknown, Putin stated that he would not “exclude the development of military-technical cooperation with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in accordance with the document signed today.”

Throughout most of his presidency, Putin has worked with China and the United States to contain North Korea, especially with regard to nuclear weapons. This current deal between Russia and North Korea seems to mark the end of any U.S.-Russia partnership to contain North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.

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North Korea Deports US Soldier Who Tried To Defect Over ‘Racism’

North Korea on Wednesday deported the American soldier who tried to defect by bolting across the demilitarized zone from South Korea earlier this year. 23-year old US Army soldier Travis King was among a group of tourists when he ran across the border and was immediately taken into North Korean custody in the July incident.

King, who had actually been facing Army disciplinary action after spending two months in a South Korean jail on assault charges, claimed he was running from “inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination” in the US Army.

King’s statement to the North Koreans also said he was “disillusioned about the unequal U.S. society.” It seems he was trying to gain sympathy by playing into Pyongyang’s standard propaganda narrative about the West. Two US officials have confirmed to the Associated Press that King is now back in American custody.

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The Bizarre Reality of Getting Online in North Korea

FOR 25 MILLION North Koreans, the internet is an impossibility. Only a few thousand privileged members of the hermit kingdom’s society can access the global internet, while even the country’s heavily censored internal intranet is out of reach for the majority of the population. Getting access to free and open information isn’t an option.

New research from South Korea-based human rights organization People for Successful Corean Reunification (Pscore) details the reality for those who—in very limited circumstances—manage to get online in North Korea. The report reveals a days-long approval process to gain internet access, after which monitors sit next to people while they browse and approve their activities every five minutes. Even then, what can be accessed reveals little about the world outside North Korea’s borders.

Documentation from the NGO is being presented today at the human rights conference RightsCon and sheds light on the regime with the most limited internet freedoms, which fall far below the restrictive and surveilled internet access in China and Iran. For millions of people in North Korea, the internet simply doesn’t exist.

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4 Ways That Joe Biden Could Get America Into A Nuclear War

Have you ever looked at Joe Biden and wondered if this guy is going to get us all killed? 

If so, you are definitely not alone.  Biden is an ill-tempered lunatic that is not all there mentally, and his foreign policy team includes well-known warmongers such as Jake Sullivan, Antony Blinken and Victoria Nuland.  Over the past two years they have been provoking our enemies every chance they get, and that has pushed us to the brink of war with several of them.  They keep telling us that they know exactly what they are doing, but if they get this wrong we are not going to get a “do over”.  Once the missiles start flying, there will be no going back. 

The following are 4 ways that Joe Biden and his minions could get America into a nuclear war…

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2022 Biggest Year Ever For Crypto Hacking with $3.8 Billion Stolen, Primarily from DeFi Protocols and by North Korea-linked Attackers

2022 was the biggest year ever for crypto hacking, with $3.8 billion stolen from cryptocurrency businesses.

Hacking activity ebbed and flowed throughout the year, with huge spikes in March and October, the latter of which became the biggest single month ever for cryptocurrency hacking, as $775.7 million was stolen in 32 separate attacks.

Below, we’ll dive into what kinds of platforms were most affected by hacks, and take a look at the role of North Korea-linked hackers, who drove much of 2022’s crypto hacking activity and shattered their own yearly record for most cryptocurrency stolen. 

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US Risks Provoking North Korea’s Kim By Holding Drills Simulating His Assassination

The US and South Korea are planning new war games where they will simulate taking out North Korea’s military leadership, including the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, The Daily Beast reported on Wednesday.

The drills will simulate targeting Pyongyang’s missile and nuclear sites plus bases needed to supply them. Sources familiar told The Daily Beast that the war games will end with a “decapitation” exercise where they attack North Korea’s command structure and take out Kim.

According to the report, the US will not publicly acknowledge that they are practicing killing Kim in the war games. Washington and Seoul haven’t held such exercises since President Trump canceled them in 2018 after meeting with Kim.

The last time the war games were held was in 2017, and Kim responded by ordering an underground nuclear weapons test. The North hasn’t launched a nuclear test since, but the US is risking provoking one by simulating Kim’s assassination.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and his South Korean counterpart, Lee Jong-sup, agreed to restart the drills last weekend. When they were held last about 50,000 South Korean troops, and 20,000 US troops participated.

The renewed war games come after South Korea’s new President Yoon Suk-yeol said he would strengthen military ties with the US. His predecessor, Moon Jae-in, was a proponent of peaceful reunification with the North, and Yoon has said he will take a tougher stance on Pyongyang.

Yoon seeks the return of US nuclear bombers and submarines to South Korean territory. The US removed all of its nuclear weapons from the Korean peninsula in 1991.

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