EDITORIAL — The West should be wary

The meeting between dictators Kim Jong Un of North Korea and Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation, long-rumored since last year, finally happened last week.

As expected, Kim held nothing back and gave Putin a welcome rivaling what they usually reserve for holidays; mass shows, crowds of cheering greeters, and an entire city put in a celebratory mood.

And while it wasn’t Putin’s first time in the reclusive “Hermit Kingdom,” this latest meeting between the two has more impact on their futures as well as the futures of the countries they regularly butt heads with.

This after the two leaders signed a Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) between their two countries.

Those who know politics know how this works; for countries bound by an MDT an attack on one country will be considered an attack on the other, and one is duty-bound to defend the other when that happens. This is the same kind of treaty we are supposed to have with the United States.

Political observers will say they have seen this MDT between Russia and North Korea coming for some time; the two need each other badly right now. North Korea has been supplying weapons, hardware, and war materiel to Russia in its war against Ukraine since last year as Russia is bound by numerous restrictions to source these elsewhere.

What’s in it for North Korea? It has a missile program that isn’t exactly known for its high rate of success. While we only know what North Korea state news media tells us, they do report occasional rocket or missile failures. We don’t know if this is all but a fraction of their actual failures.

And the Russians just happen to have some mad expertise when it comes to rocketry. We must never forget that it was they, and not their bitter rivals the Americans, who were the first to send a man to outer space and bring him back safely.

But back to the MDT. Where does this put the West, NATO countries, or the similarly-allied ones? In a very precarious position. The MDT raises tensions both in Europe and Asia. In Europe with the aforementioned Russian war against Ukraine and in Asia with North Korea’s constant saber-rattling against South Korea; a country it wants to “reunite” with but can’t actually defeat in battle.

We are sure none of the western-allied or NATO countries are eager to start a war, but what’s to stop North Korea or Russia from false-flagging an “attack” to trigger a mutual defense in their interest?

The West should be wary.