North Korea
🇯🇵 Japanese PM Ishiba faces a parliamentary vote after his coalition lost its majority, risking a fragile minority government amid rising tensions with China and North Korea, economic challenges, and a resurgent Trump. With a potential runoff and no clear majority, Ishiba’s leadership uncertain.
🇰🇷 South Korean President Yoon and U.S. President-elect Trump discussed enhancing security ties and addressing shared concerns over North Korea’s involvement in Ukraine and missile threats. Trump praised South Korea’s shipbuilding prowess, hinting at collaboration to bolster U.S. industries.
🇪🇺🇰🇷 In a joint statement, the EU and South Korea demand North Korea withdraw troops supporting Russia in Ukraine, denouncing the “unlawful” arms and military aid. Meeting in Seoul, officials raised concerns over escalating military ties between Pyongyang and Moscow.
🇺🇦 Ukraine’s top general warns they’re barely containing Russia’s most powerful offensive since invasion began, as Moscow seizes 200km² in just one week. With North Korea sending troops and winter approaching, Zelenskiy desperately seeks long-range missiles.
🇺🇸 US reveals intel showing 8,000 North Korean troops stationed in Russia’s Kursk region - Moscow silent on direct question at UN, while US and China clash over Beijing’s alleged support for Russia’s subpar defense industry.
🇰🇵 North Korea flexes military muscle with record-breaking 87-minute ICBM test as Kim warns enemies - launch comes amid controversy over 11,000 troops sent to Russia, with Seoul fearing Moscow will share advanced missile tech in return.
🇺🇦 Zelenskiy slams allies' inaction over 8,000 North Korean troops deployed in Russia’s Kursk region, warning Putin will escalate foreign fighter recruitment amid mounting Ukrainian frustration over Western support levels as US election looms.
🇷🇺 Russia’s UN envoy Nebenzia brazenly “defends” military cooperation with North Korea at Security Council meeting, claiming interactions don’t violate international law despite global concern over growing alliance.
🇷🇺 Putin stages massive nuclear response drill, launching missiles from land, sea and air amid critical phase in Ukraine war. Kremlin flexes military muscle as NATO confirms North Korean troops on Russian soil. Putin warns of “growing geopolitical tensions.”
🇺🇸 Pentagon won’t restrict Ukraine’s use of US weapons if North Korea enters the fight, as NATO confirms 10,000 NK troops are now in Russia’s Kursk region. Biden calls it “very dangerous” while Ukraine urges allies to lift long-range strike limits.
🇺🇦 Australian mercenary in Ukraine warns of dire escalation as Russia makes critical gains, North Korean troops join the fight, and Ukraine’s key city Pokrovsk faces encirclement. With Western aid uncertain, fighter says “Ukraine won’t exist… not as we know it.”
🇰🇷 South Korea rushes to NATO to brief on 12,000 North Korean troops deployed to Russia, as Putin brazenly defends military alliance with Kim Jong Un - marking dramatic escalation in Ukraine war’s global reach.
🇺🇦 Ukraine’s bid to blacklist Russia at FATF was blocked by China, India, and others, despite Kyiv’s warning that Moscow threatens global financial security. Ukraine called out Russia’s ties to sanctioned states like Iran and North Korea, but key nations opted for more evidence over immediate action.
🇰🇵🇷🇺 North Korea’s attempt to legitimize sending troops to aid Russia’s war in Ukraine is a brazen disregard for international law. Pyongyang has no moral ground to declare what’s lawful, and its growing alliance with Moscow only deepens their shared defiance of global norms.
🇰🇵🇷🇺 The U.S., South Korea, and Japan express deep alarm over North Korean troops stationed in Russia to join the fight in Ukraine. This brazen alliance between Moscow and Pyongyang widens the war beyond Europe, defying global sanctions as troops and weapons mobilize to fuel Putin’s vanity conflict.
🇷🇺 Putin dodges but does not deny U.S. claims of 3,000 North Korean troops in Russia, citing mutual defense clause with Pyongyang as “our business.” Putin welcomes Trump’s rhetoric of “peace” (at Ukraine’s expense) and accuses NATO of escalating a war that Russia started.
🇰🇵 The U.S. reports evidence that North Korea has sent 3,000 troops to Russia, possibly for deployment in Ukraine, an escalation in the conflict. South Korea claims North Korea plans to send a total of 10,000 troops. U.S. officials warn of consequences if NK troops join Russia in combat.
🇧🇾 Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko warns that deploying foreign troops in the Ukraine conflict would lead to escalation. In interviews, he dismissed claims of North Korean troops joining Russia and reaffirmed use of Russian nuclear weapons stationed in Belarus would require his consent.
🇫🇮 Finnish President calls North Korea’s reported troop deployment to Ukraine a sign of Russian “desperation”, citing Moscow’s reliance on Iranian weapons and NK soldiers as evidence of isolation ahead of his China visit.
🇺🇦 Zelenskiy warns of 12,000 North Korean troops potentially joining Russia’s war effort, urges Western allies to stop “hiding” and confront this alarming escalation as UK confirms hundreds of NK soldiers likely already deployed.