SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Wednesday hailed his country’s ties with Russia, saying the two nations were “invincible comrades-in-arms,” amid reports President Vladimir Putin will visit Pyongyang imminently.
Kim made a rare overseas trip to meet Putin in Russia’s far east last year, with Seoul and Washington subsequently claiming Pyongyang was shipping weapons to Moscow for use in Ukraine, violating UN sanctions, in return for technical help with its satellite program.
Putin was expected to pay a return visit to North Korea in the coming days, after the Kremlin told Russian media in May that the trip was “being prepared.”
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported the visit could take place “as early as next week,” as part of a tour that would also include a stop in Vietnam.
Ties between North Korea and Russia have “developed into an unbreakable relationship of comrades-in-arms,” leader Kim wrote in a message to Putin carried in the official Korean Central News Agency Wednesday.
Their “meaningful” ties will “further consolidate the eternal milestone” in the new era, Kim added, according to KCNA.
Yonhap said that satellite images showed possible signs of a “large structure” being installed in Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square.
Such activity has previously been observed when North Korea was preparing for large-scale events in the capital, such as military parades or visits by high-ranking foreign figures, according to Yonhap.
When he visited Putin last year, Kim said the North’s ties with Moscow were his country’s “number one priority.”
Analysts have also warned that ramped-up testing and production of artillery and cruise missiles by the nuclear-armed North could be in preparation for shipments to Russia for use in Ukraine.
North Korea is barred by UN sanctions from any tests using ballistic technology, but Moscow used its UN Security Council veto in March to effectively end UN monitoring of violations, for which Pyongyang has specifically thanked Russia.
North Korea has denied the allegations that it is shipping weapons to Russia, calling the claim “absurd.”
However, a pentagon report last month said Russia is using North Korean ballistic missiles in Ukraine, citing debris analysis.
Experts said that during Putin’s visit to Pyongyang, North Korea would likely push to export more war materials to be used in the Ukraine war, in exchange for importing food and energy from Russia.
There is a “disparity in the threat perception between what’s happening in Ukraine — an actual, visible conflict — and what’s happening in North Korea — the possibility of a crisis, which may seem distant when compared to the realities of the Russia-Ukraine war,” Soo Kim, a former CIA analyst, said.
“This plays to both Putin and Kim’s advantage, obviously, as Putin, who’s currently embroiled in the war and is pressed to receive help in his war efforts, and Kim is keen to build out his weapons program further,” she added.
North Korea’s Kim hails Russia ties ahead of likely Putin visit
https://arab.news/433ya
North Korea’s Kim hails Russia ties ahead of likely Putin visit
- Kim Jong Un made a rare overseas trip to meet Vladimir Putin in Russia’s far east last year
- Russian leader expected to pay a return visit to North Korea in the coming days
Southeast Asian countries repatriate nationals from Cambodia as thousands flee scam centers
- Almost 2,800 Indonesians have sought consular support to return home since mid-January
- Malaysia, Philippines also repatriate citizens after Cambodian PM orders crackdown on crime networks
Southeast Asian countries are repatriating their nationals from Cambodia, as thousands are estimated to have fled scam compounds over recent weeks following Phnom Penh’s pledge for a fresh crackdown on the multibillion-dollar industry.
Scam centers have flourished in parts of Southeast Asia in recent years, with hundreds of thousands of people lured to work in illicit operations in countries like Cambodia and Myanmar, according to a 2023 report by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
A wave of foreign nationals who were either released or have escaped from scam compounds across Cambodia since mid-January have returned to their home countries in the past week after seeking consular support from their respective embassies, officials said.
“The number of Indonesians formerly involved with online scam syndicates who are reporting to the Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh continues to increase. Since Jan. 16 to Jan. 30, we have recorded 2,795 Indonesian nationals,” the Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh said in a statement on Saturday.
At least 36 Indonesian nationals were repatriated on Friday, while another 30 are scheduled to return to Indonesia over the weekend.
Malaysia has also “rescued and repatriated” 29 Malaysians from Cambodia who were “victims of an online syndicate,” its embassy in Phnom Penh said earlier this week, while the Philippines repatriated 13 Filipinos identified as human trafficking victims last Sunday, the Department of Migrant Workers in Manila said in a statement.
Human rights organization Amnesty International estimated that thousands of people have been released or escaped from at least 17 scamming compounds across Cambodia in recent weeks, with interviews indicating that some were “subjected to grave abuses including rape and torture.”
The survivors are also from countries beyond the region, including Brazil, Nigeria, and Bangladesh, Amnesty said, as it called out the Cambodian government for ignoring the growing humanitarian crisis.
“This mass exodus from scamming compounds has created a humanitarian crisis on the streets that is being ignored by the Cambodian government. Amid scenes of chaos and suffering, thousands of traumatized survivors are being left to fend for themselves with no state support,” said Montse Ferrer, Amnesty International’s regional research director.
“This is an international crisis on Cambodian soil. Our researchers have met people from Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. They are in urgent need of consular assistance in order to help get them home and out of harm’s way.”
The latest development comes after Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet ordered authorities to step up efforts to eradicate online scam networks in the country, a directive that was followed with the arrest of several key figures.
Among those arrested was Chen Zhi, a Chinese-born Cambodian tycoon, who was extradited to China earlier this month.
Chen was sanctioned by the UK and the US in October last year, with the US Department of Treasury accusing him of running “a transnational criminal empire through online investment scams targeting Americans and others worldwide.”
The Global Anti-Scam Alliance estimates that $442 billion was lost to scammers in 2025.
