For all the fanfare of Vladimir Putin’s visit to Kim Jong-un last week, there was something of a dance of the desperate. Both men needed each other, in their military adventures and posturings. Already millions of shells and rockets have been shipped from North Korea for the Ukraine war, according to US and South Korean intelligence.
They agreed for more military hardware and know-how to be exchanged, but that was on the cards anyway. Less obvious was the bargaining over employing North Korean manpower as Russia’s security problems become more urgent.
