North Korea

[phkrause]

Russian President Vladimir Putin is making a rare trip to North Korea today as he deepens an anti-West bond with leader Kim Jong Un. It is Putin's first trip to the country in more than two decades and the first time another world leader has been invited into the isolated capital of Pyongyang since the Covid-19 pandemic. The US, South Korea and other countries have accused North Korea of providing substantial military aid to Russia's war effort in Ukraine, while observers have raised concerns that Moscow may be violating international sanctions to aid North Korea's development of its nascent military satellite program. It also comes as tensions remain high on the Korean peninsula after Kim Jong Un scrapped a longstanding policy of seeking a peaceful reunification with South Korea.

[phkrause]

North Korea sent another wave of balloons purportedly filled with waste and trash into South Korea overnight, reigniting a tit-for-tat exchange as tensions on the Korean Peninsula continue to heighten. More than 1,000 such balloons from the North have made it into South Korean territory since May, according to a CNN tally. North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un has said the balloons were a "responsive act" to the South's years-long practice of flying leaflets that contain materials critical of his regime. The latest balloon salvo comes as inter-Korean diplomacy remains at an impasse. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a defense agreement with North Korea last week as talks on its denuclearization efforts have stalled, and Kim has vowed to expand his country's nuclear arsenal.