Russia, China Increasing Cooperation With North Korea

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

PYONGYANG/BEIJING/SEOUL (Worthy News) – Russia and China stepped up their cooperation with nuclear-armed autocratically North Korea on Wednesday as East-West relations rapidly worsened.

A Russian delegation led by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu arrived in North Korea, to be joined by a Chinese delegation later on Wednesday, several officials confirmed.

They were to participate in Pyongyang’s celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the end of the bloody Korean War, marked typically by massive military parades.

The 1950-53 armed conflict ended in a Korean War armistice, in which the opposing sides agreed to stop fighting for a specific time but failed to agree on a final peace settlement.

The arrival of the Russian and Chinese delegates came after North Korea tested numerous missiles that could potentially carry nuclear warheads and threaten South Korea and the United States.

Observers said including Chinese and Russian envoys in this year’s “Victory Day” parade – as the 1953 Korean truce is called in the North – hints at a possible loosening of the COVID pandemic restrictions.

MILLIONS IN POVERTY

North Korea, where millions live in deep poverty and many face starvation, introduced one of the world’s stricter COVID policies amid concerns about its already troubled health system.

China and Russia are both long-time allies of North Korea.

Beijing sent troops in the autumn of 1950 to support North Korea in the war against South Korea. The then Soviet Union also supported North Korea in the armed conflict in which millions of civilians and soldiers died.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia remained an ally of North Korea, with both expressing distrust in the United States. Washington has accused North Korea of providing military aid to Russia in its war in Ukraine.

However, Pyongyang and Moscow have vehemently denied those accusations.

With the highly orchestrated military celebrations underway, concerns remained about the at least hundreds of thousands of people, including Christians, held in notorious prison camps.

They are deemed a threat by North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un who demands total obedience and worship, according to several rights groups and observers who visited the nation.

Advocacy group Open Doors has ranked North Korea on top of its annual World Watch List of 50 nations where it says Christians face the most persecution for their faith.

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