THE DRAMATIC EMERGENCE OF NORTH KOREA

Putin - Xi - Kim

The 1950-1953 Korean War

Shortly after the end of World War II, the US initiated  an arbitrary partition of Korea at the 38^th parallel. Although the leader of North Korea at the time, Kim Il Sung attempted to reunify the peninsula his attempts were defeated. The rift between the North and South became permanent after the 1950-1953 Korean War which ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty, leaving the two sides technically at war, a situation which prevails to this day.

Today, North Korea (NK) condemns Washington’s missile sales to South Korea as “War exports” warning that this will deepen the existing tensions on the Korean peninsula. In the circumstances, the aim of NK is to eliminate those threats by strengthening its own defenses. NK portrays its military buildup as a response to pressure from Washington and describes its nuclear and missile program as essential deterrence against foreign interference.[i]

Xi Jinping visits North Korea

China’s leader,  Xi Jinping visited Pyongyang in June 2026. It was Xi’s first foreign visit of the year, underscoring the growing convergence of China’s and NK’s interests. During Xi’s visit, Kim referred to ties with China as “The most important top priority” for NK, reaffirming Beijing as NK’s principal backer. In recent years, NK has also expanded its diplomatic profile through closer engagement with Russia, while  revitalizing relations with China and also reaching out to the US. These events have inevitably elevated Pyongyang’s international recognition and standing.

Xi held the upper hand in his recent meetings with both Presidents Trump and Putin. However, with NK’s leader, Kim Jong Un (Kim) the stakes for Beijing are high due to three significant matters: Tokyo’s remilitarisation, the South Korean-US alliance,  and Taiwan’s creep towards secession. China has only one formal defence treaty and that is with NK, making NK the neighbour which China can neither control nor afford to lose. However, Kim can also not afford to alienate his biggest source of aid. In 2025, China’s exports to NK surged to US$2.3 billion and in 2026 passenger train services between Beijing and Pyongyang restarted after a six year hiatus.[ii]

A Flourishing North Korea

North Korea’s economy is flourishing in ways not seen before. This has been aided by arms sales and troop deployments to Russia as well as supplies and financing from China. Visitors today describe NK as unrecognizable, especially in the capital, Pyongyang where Chinese electric vehicles whiz through the streets and car dealerships sell BMWs. The domestic production of cell phones has hit half a million per year and smartphones are widespread.

During the past year, NK has completed major construction projects, including Pyongyang’s largest hospital and a greenhouse complex which is larger than New York’s Central Park. Kim’s marquee initiative is the construction of new factories in 20 cities each year during the next 10 years. In April 2026, Kim toured Hwasong district, a new neighbourhood of skyscrapers where families of NK’s soldiers killed in Russia were given apartments. In May 2026, NK held its Spring International Trade Fair. More than 290 companies attended, including from Russia, China, Mongolia, Switzerland and Thailand. NK’s economic standing is the strongest it has been since Kim assumed power nearly 15 years ago.[iii]

Treaties With North Korea

In 1961, China and NK concluded a Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance which includes a requirement for each to provide the other with military and other assistance in the event of an armed attack against either of them. China renewed the Treaty in 2021.

In 2023, Kim visited Russia’s Far East to meet with President Putin, and in 2024 Putin visited Pyongyang. The two leaders signed the Russia-North Korea Comprehensive Strategic Partnership providing Kim with a second guarantor. Their mutual defence pact set the framework for NK’s deployment of 15,000 troops to fight Ukraine alongside Russia. One third of NK’s troops were killed or injured. NK also became a munitions supplier to Moscow, generating more than $10 billion between 2023 and 2025. In return, Russia supplied drone technology, air defence equipment, anti-aircraft missiles and electronic warfare systems to NK.[iv]  

The relationship between NK and Russia makes China uncomfortable and motivates Xi Jinping to regain diplomatic lost ground and to reassert Beijing’s influence over Pyongyang. On Beijing’s Victory Day parade in September 2025, commemorating the 80^th anniversary of the surrender of Japan during World War II, Kim stood on the rostrum alongside both Xi and Putin.

North Korea - A Nuclear Power

NK has amassed 50 nuclear bombs and has stockpiled enough plutonium and highly enriched uranium to build 50 more. It has developed 20 different delivery systems including long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles which can reach targets in the United States. NK is also pursuing ballistic missiles which can be launched from nuclear submarines. NK can now flex its military power to help US adversaries such as Russia in Ukraine.

After the wars in Iraq, Libya and Iran, no one can seriously argue that NK lacks the right to be nuclear armed. Remember how the US falsely accused Saddam Hussein of developing weapons of mass destruction, leading to the execution of Hussein. After Gadhafi gave up his nuclear weapons, he was assassinated and most recently, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was bombed to smithereens over Iran’s nuclear program.[v]

The US has relied on economic sanctions to bring NK to the table and, in its dealings with NK the US has continued to repeat the same mantra – “With denuclearisation, all things are possible. Without it, nothing is possible.” Unsurprisingly, these approaches have failed although, until the end of the Biden administration in 2024, Washington continued to impose sanctions on NK.

Given the economic, political and military support NK receives from China and Russia, Pyongyang has fewer incentives to concede any more to Washington than it did when Trump last visited in 2019.[vi]

Trump’s Visits to North Korea

In 2018, Kim held a summit with the South Korean President Moon Jae-in (Moon). They shook hands across the Military Demarcation Line between their nations, with Kim referring to “An age of peace” and Moon declaring “There will never again be war on the Korean Peninsula”. There were talks of a possible reunification of North and South Korea as far back as 1950 but these were disrupted by the 1950 war. However, the 23^rd Winter Olympics were held in South Korea in 2018 when it was agreed that North and South would participate as a “Unified Team Korea”. It was promoted as the “Peace Games”, heralding the possibility of reconciliation and peace.

South Korea then informed then President Donald Trump that Kim wished to hold a summit with Trump which led to Kim and Trump meeting in 2018. That meeting ended with a joint statement suggesting that NK would work towards denuclearization. Three months later, Moon visited Pyongyang and the two Koreas agreed to cease military hostility and to engage in communication. Kim and Trump met again, in Vietnam in February 2019 but the meeting ended in deadlock setting back the hope of persuading the US to lift sanctions against NK.

Trump met with Kim for the third time in June 2019, this time at the Korean Demilitarised Zone where Trump was the first US president to step into NK. During discussions, Kim pledged to dismantle NK’s Yongbyon nuclear facility if the US agreed to lift sanctions on NK. However, Trump was stymied by the US deep state which demanded even more before NK would receive any benefits. This led to the breakdown of negotiations.

In 2020  Kim declared that while denuclearisation was not impossible, bilateral talks would depend upon the US withdrawal of hostility. However, at the start of 2024, NK abandoned the goal of reunification and Kim described South Korea as NK’s “Primary Foe”, having regard to its alliance with and support from the US.

North Korea Proving to be a Winner

NK is today ascendant in ways which could not have been predicted and Kim’s grip on power has never been stronger. In September 2025, Kim was beaming at a military parade in Beijing where he stood with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. NK’s trade with China had reached healthy pre-pandemic levels and Kim had been welcomed into a cohort of leaders who were countering US influence.

Kim has ramped up NK’s nuclear weapons program, and conducted over 100 missile tests between 2012 and 2019 including a hydrogen bomb in September 2017. In January 2021 Kim unveiled an ambitious five year defence plan to develop tactical nuclear weapons with super-sized nuclear warheads, hypersonic glide vehicles, nuclear powered submarines and uncrewed underwater vehicles.

In 2017 Kim and Trump were exchanging insults with Trump calling Kim “Little Rocket Man” while Kim called Trump “Mentally deranged”. However, in 2018 Kim and Trump stepped back from the brink and they engaged in their first summit.

The Possibility of Another Trump-Kim Meeting

 Since again taking office, Trump has offered to meet Kim once more. Kim’s response was self-assured saying, “If the US drops its hollow obsession with denuclearisation and wants to pursue peaceful coexistence with North Korea, there is no reason for us not to sit down”. The argument could be that if Trump and Kim can achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula and bring an end to the Korean state of war  which technically has persisted for more than 70 years, this could potentially result in stabilisation of the region.

Kim has honed the craft of juggling, flattering, threatening, and frustrating his neighbours. In the past, Washington offered sanctions relief and economic assistance to engage Pyongyang and to restrain NK’s actions. Now, if the US chooses to revive dialogue, it will have to offer even more.[vii]

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[i] RT, North Korea slams US war exports – 13 June 2026

[ii] BBC, Friendship or leverage: Why is Xi visiting North Korea? 9 June 2026

[iii] Wall Street Journal, World’s Most Surprising Economic Success Story – 7 June 2026

[iv] Asia Times, Kim played Russia, rattled China and won – 10 June 2026

[v] South China Morning Post, Kim Jong Un turned out to be the cleverest of them all – 12 June 2026

[vi] Foreign Affairs, North Korea as It Is, 21 April 2026

[vii] Asia Times, Xi’s visit puts a Trump-Kim Summit back in play, 8 June 2026