- NBC News reported that US officials fear North Korea will take military action before the US election.
- Senior officials told the newspaper that such a move could be encouraged by Vladimir Putin.
- North Korea and Russia have established close military relations in recent years.
US officials are preparing for possible military action by North Korea – perhaps encouraged by Russian President Vladimir Putin – in the run-up to the US elections in November. NBC News Citing six senior US officials.
They added that such a move could be aimed at creating chaos in another part of the world as the electoral process escalates.
One US intelligence official added: “We have no doubt that North Korea will be provocative this year. It’s just a matter of how much they escalate.”
After the NBC News report, a spokesman for Donald Trump’s campaign said: “The only surprise in October will be the look of shock” among reporters when Trump is re-elected.
The officials’ warning comes ahead of a potential meeting between North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un and Putin, which the Kremlin announced earlier this week was “in preparation.”
Agence France-Presse quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying on Friday, “President Putin has an active invitation to pay an official visit to North Korea. Preparations are being made for the visit. We will announce the dates of the visit at the appropriate time.”
Russia and North Korea have developed closer relations since the start of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
For its part, North Korea has sent munitions to Moscow, ostensibly to aid Putin’s forces in their war against Ukraine, but also to take advantage of the opportunity to test its equipment on the battlefield, Reuters reported. Center for Strategic and International Studies.
In return, North Korea “expects Russia to provide advanced weapons systems and technological know-how to significantly enhance its defense, nuclear and space programs,” the research center said.
The six US officials also told NBC News that the Biden administration is concerned that the relationship could lead to major developments in Pyongyang’s nuclear capabilities, raising tensions in the Asia-Pacific region.
However, one official said that China likely does not want instability in the region, and thus Russia may be reluctant to intervene before the US elections.
However, Rachel Minyoung Lee, a senior fellow in the North 38 Program at the Stimson Center, expressed concern about North Korea’s strengthening ties with Russia. Kim can be encouraged To take more aggressive military or diplomatic action in the coming years.
North Korea has already sent a large amount of military aid to Russia.
By November 2023, a South Korean lawmaker said North Korea had sent Moscow more than a million artillery shells to bolster its war efforts.
But earlier this month, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin’s office told Reuters that weapons supplied by North Korea appeared to have a high failure rate.
“About half of the North Korean missiles lost their programmed trajectories and exploded in the air, and in such cases the debris was not recovered,” Kostin’s office said, citing their examination of the wreckage of 21 of about 50 ballistic missiles supplied by North Korea and launched by North Korea. Russia between late December and late February.
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