The Hermit’s Rumspringa
NEED TO KNOW
The Hermit’s Rumspringa
NORTH KOREA
When Russian President Vladimir Putin received help last year fighting his war in Ukraine in the form of thousands of North Korean soldiers, some wondered, what does North Korea get out of this?
Plenty, it seems, maybe even more than it bargained for.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been assisting Russia with arms since the war broke out in 2022. But last year, as the two grew even closer with the signing of a mutual defense treaty in June, he offered to send more than 10,000 soldiers.
Then Kim deployed some of the country’s most elite warriors, the Storm Corps, to Russia.
In November, these soldiers appeared at the Ukrainian front and also in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces seized territory last summer in a stunning advance.
There are mixed opinions on how effective these troops have been – they have no real-world combat experience despite North Korea being the most heavily militarized country in the world. Some say these forces are being used as “cannon fodder,” but are fearless as they advance into suicidal situations. Others say they are disciplined, committed, and adept with weapons, often having better equipment and ability than the Russian soldiers they fight alongside.
Regardless, most analysts believe these soldiers were not prepared for the modern drone warfare they encountered or the flat terrain of the steppe in eastern Ukraine and western Russia. As a result, an estimated 1,000 of these soldiers have been killed in the fighting, with thousands more wounded – there are no official numbers because North Korea and Russia both deny the soldiers are even there. Even so, Ukrainian military officials believe the unit has lost half of its original number in three months.
Meanwhile, these troops go to great lengths to avoid being captured, even committing suicide, because they are worried about reprisals against their families back home, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last month. He added that two had been captured, with one asking to defect. Also, Ukraine has been releasing testimonies from its captured North Korean POWs: The soldiers told the Ukrainians they had believed they were being deployed to train, not fight. Ukraine has also released handwritten letters and diaries it has found on the dead North Korean soldiers, NK News reported.
Meanwhile, for weeks, the troops have been missing in action, and officials believe they suffered severe casualties and are being rotated out, the New York Times reported.
Despite the losses, analysts say the sacrifice is worth it for North Korea.
Besides the regular transfers of the basics such as food and fuel that Russia has been exchanging for arms and munitions since 2023 with North Korea, which has had trouble meeting its needs because of Western sanctions on the country, Pyongyang gets paid for the soldiers, adding to its revenue streams. At the same time, analysts say the country also gets a chance to test these soldiers and their weapons against Western ones on the battlefield and see how they perform.
Meanwhile, North Korea gains intelligence on the weapons used by the Russians and also the Ukrainians, who are deploying sophisticated arms sent by Western countries such as HIMARS. “They’re bringing these lessons home in the hardest way possible: by bleeding for them,” Joseph Bermudez of the Center for International and Strategic Studies told Business Insider.
North Korea also wants access to sophisticated weapons technologies such as advanced space, satellite, electronic, and drone technology, even as it is trying to bolster its nuclear fighting capabilities. US officials believe Russia intends to share some of its own – already, Putin has promised to help North Korea’s satellite launch program by providing advanced technology.
Observers say that could mean Russia would be helping North Korea develop its long-range ballistic missiles – a move that would be in clear violation of United Nations sanctions.
Still, while there is plenty of gain for Kim, there is also risk, they think.
For example, North Korea has almost complete control over the information its citizens can access, so its citizens aren’t exposed to foreign influences or see what conditions are like – including the wealth – elsewhere.
Kim has recently made even greater efforts to “keep the country’s youth in line,” wrote the Wall Street Journal, blocking videos and other media from South Korea and the West. But the soldiers in Russia and Ukraine and their families might be the Achilles’ heel.
“Families will be angry at losing their children in a foreign war,” wrote the International Crisis Group. “The conscripts will gain exposure to foreign ideas that may call into question the system they live within; those who survive could bring their newfound knowledge back to North Korea.”
“Kim’s gamble,” it added, “is that the benefits outweigh the costs.”
THE WORLD, BRIEFLY
Keeping the Peace
ROMANIA
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis resigned from office Monday, a move aimed at preventing a political crisis amid an ongoing fight over the annulment of last year’s presidential elections, Radio Free Europe reported.
Iohannis announced he would leave office Wednesday, saying he wanted “to spare Romania and its citizens from this crisis.”
His decision came a day before lawmakers were set to discuss and vote on a third request to impeach Iohannis following the constitutional court’s annulment of the presidential vote in November.
The November elections saw little-known, far-right candidate Călin Georgescu unexpectedly emerge as the top contender in the first round of voting – a result that shocked the country because he was initially polling in single digits before the elections, according to the Guardian.
His victory was marred by allegations of Russian interference and electoral violations after it appeared that Georgescu benefitted from an online sleeper network that artificially boosted his social media reach before the November vote.
Russia has denied any involvement.
In December, the constitutional court annulled the results and requested Iohannis to stay in office even after his term was set to end in mid-December – he has been in office since 2014, Euronews noted.
The annulment sparked large protests in Romania, with demonstrators expressing support for Georgescu and calling for Iohannis to step down.
In his resignation, the outgoing leader called the attempt to impeach him “useless,” warning that such a move would spark political chaos and hinder negotiations on rescheduling presidential elections.
Although the new election date has not been set, Romania’s ruling coalition has proposed holding the presidential vote on May 4, with a possible run-off on May 18.
Georgescu, who previously tried to appeal the constitutional court’s ruling, is now polling at 40 percent.
Off the Rails
COLOMBIA
Colombian President Gustavo Petro called for the resignation of his ministers and senior officials following a week of political turmoil that further deepened divisions within his leftist government, the Financial Times reported.
On Sunday, Petro announced on social media that “there will be some changes in the cabinet to achieve greater compliance with the program mandated by the people.”
He did not specify the extent of the reshuffle.
His call for resignations came after a tense televised cabinet meeting last Tuesday, where Petro publicly criticized members of his administration for failing to deliver on key projects.
The six-hour meeting led last week to the resignations of Culture Minister Juan David Correa and Jorge Rojas, head of the presidential administrative department.
Environment Minister Susana Muhamad – a longtime ally – also resigned Sunday before Petro’s posts.
Muhamad cited disagreements over the presence of controversial figures in the government.
The leftist president has come under scrutiny in recent days over his decision to appoint Armando Benedetti and Laura Sarabia into senior positions, even though both are linked to corruption and wiretapping scandals.
Petro has defended his decision to appoint Benedetti as his chief of staff, despite the latter being under investigation for illegal campaign financing and facing accusations of domestic abuse, Agence France-Presse wrote.
He also justified the promotion of Sarabia to foreign minister. Sarabia, a former aide, was involved in a case of alleged illegal wiretapping.
Petro dismissed critics, arguing that the internal conflicts stemmed from ministers positioning themselves ahead of next year’s elections.
The political crisis threatens to derail Petro’s sweeping leftist agenda, which includes overhauling Colombia’s pension, healthcare, and education systems while transitioning the economy away from fossil fuels.
Petro has also attempted to pursue a policy of “total peace” to end the country’s decades-long conflict with armed groups. However, his peace efforts derailed in recent weeks amid escalating violence in the northeast, where more than 50,000 people have been displaced this year because of fighting between armed groups.
Political Gamble
KOSOVO
Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s party claimed the most seats in Sunday’s parliamentary elections but fell short of the outright majority needed to govern, prompting concerns of a political deadlock, Reuters reported.
Kurti’s center-left Vetëvendosje (Self-Determination) party won more than 40 seats out of the 120 of the parliament, the BBC reported.
The center-right Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), founded by former fighters of the Kosovo Liberation Army, came in second with 22 percent of the vote, followed by the center-right Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) with 18 percent. Coming in fourth is the center-right Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) with eight percent.
The Vetëvendosje party is strongly nationalist and opposes Serbian influence in the country. Kurti’s effort to extend government control in the ethnic-Serb majority region in northern Kosovo increased his party’s popularity, but it was criticized by the European Union and the US, the country’s main supporters, Agence France Presse noted.
In ethnic Serb areas, the Serbia-backed party Srpska Lista (Serb List) is expected to dominate over other Serb parties and win the majority of the 10 seats allotted in parliament to Kosovo’s Serb minority, as per the Balkan country’s constitution.
Kurti’s party gained power in 2021 and is the first to finish its term in office since Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008.
The EU and the US recognized Kosovo’s independence, while Serbia – backed by Russia – and most ethnic Serbs residing in Kosovo have refused to do so.
Still, observers noted that the results underscore the political uncertainty in the Balkan country, as Kurti will need to create a coalition to govern.
The prime minister – who previously ruled out forming a coalition – has not commented about who he plans to ask to join his coalition government. In his victory speech, he accused the opposition of being “animals” and “thieves” ready to make a deal “with the devil” against his government.
His new term will also face a series of major hurdles, with US aid frozen and EU funding cuts still in place nearly two years later. He’s also under pressure to boost wages, pensions, and public services while tackling poverty, according to the Associated Press.
DISCOVERIES
Alive and Kicking
Beneath its cold, dormant exterior, the Moon is much more active than previously thought.
Studies have shown that the Moon’s lunar maria – those dark and flat areas filled with solidified lava – underwent significant compression in processes that ended billions of years ago.
These contractions created large, arching ridges on the near side of the Moon between 2.5 and 3 billion years ago, and scientists had believed the surface was dormant ever since.
However, a new study published in the Planetary Science Journal found that the ridges of the Moon’s far side are much younger than those on the near side, suggesting that the Moon’s surface has been active within the last 200 million years and might still be active today.
Through advanced mapping and modeling techniques, the researchers found 266 ridges on the Moon’s far side that had previously gone unnoticed.
The Moon’s ridges generally appeared in groups of 10 to 40 in certain volcanic regions estimated to be as old as 3.6 billion years. These areas are where the Moon’s surface tends to be weak, the researchers explained in a statement.
To estimate how old the ridges are, the team used a technique called crater counting.
“Essentially, the more craters a surface has, the older it is,” assistant researcher Jaclyn Clark explained.
By counting the craters around the ridges and observing that some of the ridges cut through existing craters, the researchers concluded that the Moon was tectonically active in the past 160 million years – that’s relatively recent considering the Moon is about 4.5 billion years old.
The far-side and near-side ridges are similar in structure, suggesting that they were likely created by the same forces, namely shifts in the lunar orbit and the Moon’s gradual shrinking due to its core cooling down, caused the Moon’s crust to crack in a way that resembles the seismic activity detected by the Apollo missions to Earth’s biggest satellite decades ago.
This discovery could impact the logistics of future missions because knowing that the Moon is still geologically active will influence where to place astronauts, equipment, and infrastructure on its surface.