SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited a nuclear submarine factory and received a message from Russia&rsquo;s Vladimir Putin hailing the countries&rsquo; &ldquo;invincible friendship,&rdquo; Pyongyang&rsquo;s state media said Thursday. North Korea and Russia have drawn closer since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly four years ago, and Pyongyang has sent troops to fight for Russia. In return, Russia is sending North Korea financial aid, military technology, and food and energy supplies, analysts say. The &ldquo;heroic&rdquo; efforts of North Korean soldiers in Russia&rsquo;s Kursk region &ldquo;clearly proved the invincible friendship&rdquo; between Moscow and Pyongyang, Putin said in a message to Kim, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Their work demonstrated the nations&rsquo; &ldquo;militant fraternity,&rdquo; Putin said in the message received by Pyongyang last week. The provisions of the &ldquo;historic treaty&rdquo; the two leaders signed last year, which includes a mutual defence clause, had been fulfilled &ldquo;thanks to our joint efforts,&rdquo; Putin wrote. South Korean and Western intelligence agencies have estimated that the North has sent thousands of soldiers to Russia, primarily to Kursk, along with artillery shells, missiles, and long-range rocket systems. Around 2,000 troops have been killed, and thousands more have been wounded, according to South Korean estimates. North Korea acknowledged this month that its troops in Kursk had been assigned to clear mines and that some had died on deployment. KCNA reported Putin&rsquo;s letter on the same day that it published details of Kim&rsquo;s undated recent visit to a manufacturing base for nuclear-powered submarines. There, the North Korean leader vowed to counter the &ldquo;threat&rdquo; of South Korea producing its own such vessels. US President Donald Trump has given the green light for South Korea to build &ldquo;nuclear-powered attack submarines,&rdquo; though key details of the project remain uncertain. Photos published by KCNA showed Kim walking alongside a purportedly 8,700-tonne submarine at an indoor assembly site, surrounded by officials and his daughter, Kim Ju Ae. In another image, Kim Jong Un smiles during an official briefing as Kim Ju Ae stands beside him. Pyongyang would view Seoul developing nuclear subs as &ldquo;an offensive act severely violating its security and maritime sovereignty,&rdquo; Kim Jong Un said, according to KCNA. It was therefore &ldquo;indispensable&rdquo; to &ldquo;accelerate the radical development of the modernisation and nuclear weaponisation of the naval force,&rdquo; he said. Kim clarified a naval reorganisation plan and learned about research into &ldquo;new underwater secret weapons,&rdquo; KCNA said, without giving details. Pyongyang&rsquo;s defence ministry said it would consider &ldquo;countermeasures&rdquo; against US &ldquo;nuclear muscle flexing,&rdquo; a separate report said Thursday.

Asia

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited a nuclear submarine factory and received a message from Russia’s Vladimir Putin hailing the countries’ “invincible friendship,” Pyongyang’s state media said Thursday

North Korea's Kim visits nuclear subs as Putin hails 'invincible' bond

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says he still has good memories of U.S. President Donald Trump and urged Washington to drop its demand the North surrender its nukes as a precondition for resuming long-stalled diplomacy. Speaking to Pyongyang&rsquo;s rubber-stamp parliament on Sunday, Kim stressed that he has no intention of ever resuming dialogue with rival South Korea, a key U.S. ally that helped broker Kim&rsquo;s previous summits with Trump during the American president&rsquo;s first term, according to a speech published by state media on Monday. Kim suspended virtually all cooperation with the South following the collapse of his second summit with Trump in 2019 over disagreements about U.S.-led sanctions against the North. Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have worsened in recent years as Kim has accelerated his weapons buildup and aligned with Russia over the war in Ukraine. Kim&rsquo;s comments came as South Korean President Lee Jae Myung prepares to depart for New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly, where he is expected to address nuclear tensions on the Korean Peninsula and call on North Korea to return to talks. Trump is also expected to visit South Korea next month to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, prompting media speculation that he may try to meet Kim at the inter-Korean border, as they did during their third meeting in 2019, which ultimately failed to salvage their nuclear diplomacy. During his latest speech at the Supreme People&rsquo;s Assembly, Kim reiterated that he would never give up his nuclear weapons program, which experts say he sees as his strongest guarantee of survival and the extension of his family&rsquo;s dynastic rule. &ldquo;The world already knows well what the United States does after forcing other countries to give up their nuclear weapons and disarm,&rdquo; Kim said. &ldquo;We will never lay down our nuclear weapons &hellip; There will be no negotiations, now or never, about trading anything with hostile countries in exchange for lifting sanctions.&rdquo; He said he still holds &ldquo;good personal memories&rdquo; of Trump from their first meetings and that there is &ldquo;no reason not to&rdquo; resume talks with the United States if Washington &ldquo;abandons its delusional obsession with denuclearization.&rdquo; Kim has stepped up testing activities in recent years, demonstrating weapons of various ranges designed to strike U.S. allies in Asia and the U.S. mainland. Analysts say Kim&rsquo;s nuclear push is aimed at eventually pressuring Washington to accept the idea of the North as a nuclear power and to negotiate economic and security concessions from a position of strength. Kim is also trying to bolster his leverage by strengthening cooperation with traditional allies Russia and China, in an emerging partnership aimed at undercutting U.S. influence. He has sent thousands of troops and huge supplies of military equipment to Russia to help support President Vladimir Putin&rsquo;s war in Ukraine. He visited Beijing earlier this month, sharing the spotlight with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Putin at a massive military parade. Experts say Kim&rsquo;s rare foreign trip was likely intended to boost his leverage ahead of a potential resumption of talks with the United States. There&rsquo;s growing concern in Seoul that it could lose its voice in future efforts to defuse the nuclear standoff on the peninsula, as the North seeks to negotiate directly with the United States. Such fears were amplified last year when Kim declared that he was abandoning North Korea&rsquo;s long-standing goal of peaceful unification with South Korea and ordered a rewriting of the North&rsquo;s constitution to cement the South as a permanent enemy.

Americas

Kim Jong Un recalls “good memories” of Trump, rejects denuclearization demands, vows to keep nukes, and deepens ties with Russia, China.

North Korean leader recalls 'good memories' of Trump, urges US to drop denuclearization demands

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a test of an attack drone and ordered greater use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the technology, state media said Friday.&nbsp;Images shared by the official Korean Central News Agency showed the unmanned vehicle taking off and then destroying a target.&nbsp;State media reported that the exercise demonstrated the &quot;excellent combat effectiveness of Kumsong-series tactical attack drones,&quot; stating that Kim expressed &quot;great satisfaction&quot; with the result.&nbsp;Drones are emerging as a &quot;major military activity asset, raising it as a top-priority and important task in modernizing the armed forces of the DPRK,&quot; Kim reportedly said, using the acronym for North Korea.&nbsp;He also ordered &quot;efforts to rapidly develop the newly-introduced artificial intelligence technology&quot; as well as the &quot;expanding and strengthening&quot; of drone production capabilities.&nbsp;Analyst Hong Min at Seoul&#39;s Korea Institute for National Unification said Kim sees drone technology as critical to securing &quot;great power status.&quot;&nbsp;&quot;The drones raise concerns because they offer low-cost, high-efficiency threats: autonomous mission execution, improved accuracy and lethality, suitability for mass production, and enhanced tactical flexibility,&quot; he added.&nbsp;Lessons from RussiaPyongyang unveiled its first attack drones last year, and experts have warned its new capability in this area could be linked to its budding alliance with Russia.&nbsp;Analysts also say North Korean troops sent to fight for Russia will be gaining modern warfare experience, including how drones are used on the battlefield.&nbsp;And Lim Eul-chul at South Korea&#39;s Kyungnam University said AI could allow North Korean drones to &quot;operate even if GPS or communications signals are jammed, relying on pre-trained algorithms.&quot;&nbsp;North Korea has tested GPS jamming attacks on the South Korean assets &mdash; an operation that affected several ships and dozens of civilian aircraft.&nbsp;&quot;The AI drive has gained momentum since 2024, drawing on Russian technology transfers and lessons from the war in Ukraine,&quot; Lim said.&nbsp;South Korean and Western intelligence agencies have said the North sent over 10,000 soldiers to Russia in 2024 &mdash; primarily to the Kursk region &mdash; along with artillery shells, missiles and long-range rocket systems.&nbsp;Around 600 North Korean soldiers have been killed and thousands more wounded fighting for Russia, Seoul has said.

Kim Jong Un emphasizes the military importance of AI-powered drones and calls for increased production, likely with technological support from Russia.


Articles tagged with "Kim Jong Un"

North Korea's Kim visits nuclear subs as Putin hails 'invincible' bond

North Korean leader recalls 'good memories' of Trump, urges US to drop denuclearization demands

North Korea's Kim oversees drone test, orders AI development