FILE – Russian President Vladimir Putin, center right, and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un shake hands during their meeting in Vladivostok, Russia, Thursday, April 25, 2019. A North Korean train presumably carrying North Korean leader Jong Un has departed for Russia for a possible meeting with Russian President Putin, South Korean media said Monday, Sept. 11, 2023. Citing unidentified South Korean government sources, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported that the train likely left the North Korean capital of Pyongyang on Sunday evening and that a Kim-Putin meeting is possible as early as Tuesday. (Yuri Kadobnov/Pool Photo via AP, File)

RI MIN Ryong^

The burgeoning alliance between Russia and North Korea of late may have serious ramifications on world affairs but will be transitory and ephemeral as Moscow’s courtship of Pyongyang has been driven by nothing other than its desperation in the Ukraine war. Russia, a founding member of the United Nations and a permanent member of its Security Council, a country that has spearheaded eight rounds of UN sanctions against North Korea, is engaging in an arms deal with the very same country because its invasion of Ukraine, which the Kremlin has framed as a “special military operation,” has escalated into a wider European conflict and Russia now finds itself facing a shortage of artillery shells and other war supplies.

The problem is that the ramifications of the deal are more serious than they seem. Russia’s transfer of advanced nuclear and missile technology to North Korea, as well as the dispatching of North Korean workers to Russia, would create shockwaves that could shake the very foundations of the international order. Together, these two demands are severe enough to constitute the Kremlin’s violation of all eight UN sanctions resolutions on North Korea currently in effect. Russia would be not only abandoning the NPT regime that it has staunchly safeguarded alongside the United States but also engaging in the self-contradictory act of reversing its stance on the sanctions it approved as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

While Russian authorities have officially denied any military deals with North Korea, such denial can no longer be sustained with even Russian state television footage showing Moscow’s troops using what has been identified as North Korean-made 152 mm artillery shells and 122 mm rockets. Satellite imagery analysis shows that the number of shells provided by the North Korean side ranges from hundreds of thousands to more than a million, a figure which has also been confirmed by the U.S. and Ukrainian governments.

Among the quid pro quos Moscow has provided to Pyongyang, the technology related to military reconnaissance satellites is of particular interest. Kim Jong Un met with Putin at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia in September 2023, and about two months later, North Korea successfully launched a reconnaissance satellite on its third attempt. The previous two launches had both failed, leading to speculation that Russia would have provided technological support for the third attempt. In particular, the issue of Russia’s spy satellite technology assistance is surmised to have been at the top of the agenda during the recent meeting between North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui and Russia’s Putin, making it harder for the Kremlin to deflect blame that it has provided critical assistance to Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Even more shocking is the dispatch of North Korean workers to Russia. South Korean media have reported that North Korea sent hundreds of laborers to the Russian Far East following the September Moscow-Pyongyang summit. French online media outlet Intelligence Online recently revealed that Russia is planning to bring up to 500,000 workers from Pyongyang. Russia’s interest in North Korean laborers comes as the country faces a labor shortage, including in its reconstruction efforts in occupied Ukraine. Russian daily Izvestia reported (on Dec. 24, 2023) that the country’s immediate labor needs are estimated at 4.8 million.

The UN Security Council has adopted three resolutions to block North Korean nationals from working abroad as the council has determined that Pyongyang channels their foreign currency earnings to finance its nuclear weapons programs. More specifically, Resolution 2397 called on UN member states to repatriate North Korean nationals working in their countries by 2019, and Russia, in a symbolic move, did repatriate some of its North Korean workers temporarily. However, there are growing suspicions that North Korea has continued to send laborers to Russia through clandestine and deceptive means.

For example, in 2019, after UN sanctions came into effect, Russia issued 26,000 tourist and student visas to North Koreans, over five times the number compared to the previous year, raising suspicions that North Korean workers have entered Russia under false pretenses.

The critical reason that Russia should not accept North Korean laborers lies in the severity of human rights violations. It has been revealed that North Koreans working overseas are exploited like modern-day slaves, working 12 hours a day from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. with some even working up to 20 hours a day in conditions worse than those in refugee camps. Reports have emerged that North Korean workers in Russia have fled the country, and thousands of North Korean workers in China’s Jilin province allegedly staged a strike and rioted in response to intolerable working conditions and wage exploitation.

Russia is urged to take decisive action to mitigate the risks of its cooperation with North Korea, considering the high stakes for the country’s future. Aligning with Pyongyang could lead to significant and irreversible losses for Russia’s national interests and values.

Firstly, Russia’s position in the war in Ukraine risks further weakening. If the only means by which Russia can sustain the war is through support from a regime subjected to the most severe sanctions ever imposed by the United Nations, it sends a clear message to the world that Russia’s capabilities and power are effectively at their limits.

Second, Russia will go down in world history as the epitome of a state that has violated international law and norms, not to mention exploited its permanent UN Security Council seat. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a clear violation of state sovereignty, and its covert dealings with North Korea also mark a departure from the spirit of international law.

Third, Russia will be relegated to a deviant status on the world stage, and the longer it solidifies its military cooperation with North Korea, the more it will find itself isolated in both Europe and Asia.

The Kim Jong Un regime appears bent on revising the 2000 North Korea – Russia Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighborliness, and Cooperation to move toward a ‘military alliance’ in time for Putin’s visit to Pyongyang later this year, thereby maximizing the regime’s interests by cementing the North Korea – China – Russia bloc to counter South Korea – U.S. – Japan ties.

Russia’s stance is not without hope. With recent observations suggesting that Russia is reducing its military cooperation in the face of global scrutiny, it is hoped that Russian leaders will choose a rational path that aligns with their national interests. A resolution to the Ukrainian conflict hinges upon Russia restoring its dignity as a founding member of the United Nations, at which point its current, illogical rapprochement with Pyongyang is likely to cease, marked by its transient nature.