The West underestimates North Korea at its peril
Kim Jong Un’s intervention in the Ukraine war reflects a dangerous turn in Pyongyang’s approach to the world
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visiting the National Defence University in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Oct 7.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Gideon Rachman
“The first step to a world war”. That was how Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the anticipated arrival of North Korean troops on the front line of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Western security officials have warned for months of growing cooperation between an “axis of adversaries”, made up of Russia, North Korea, Iran and China. North Korean support for Russia is the most dramatic evidence yet of that axis in action.
