A former North Korean diplomat who defected to South Korea said King may be used as a propaganda tool, but it was not clear how long North Korea would want to exploit his presence.

Source: https://gazette.com/news/us-world/no-word-from-north-korea-on-us-soldier-who-dashed-across-military-border/article_1c5b8f2b-bd8c-53aa-ae5a-6293a515aba7.html

After meeting Kim on Wednesday at the Vostochny cosmodrome roughly 8,000km from Moscow, Putin talked up the prospect of greater cooperation with North Korea and said there were "possibilities" for military ties.

Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/kim-jong-un-meets-russia-defence-minister-sergei-shoigu-north-korea-3775676?cid=cna_flip_070214

Allies are returning to large-scale drills as a warning to Pyongyang after records of missile launches from North Korea last year and South Korea’s elimination of anti-Bande operations.

Source: https://houstonianonline.com/us-and-south-korean-forces-are-conducting-the-largest-joint-exercise-in-years/

“Although North Korea has no intention of giving up nuclear weapons, it might try to extract payment for acting like a so-called responsible nuclear power.”

Source: https://halifax.citynews.ca/2023/12/30/north-koreas-kim-says-hell-launch-3-more-spy-satellites-and-build-more-nuclear-weapons-in-2024/

American companies can easily say, "We don't ship to Russia, we don't ship to Iran, we don't ship to North Korea."

Source: https://worldcrunch.com/focus/russia-sanctions-companies-circumvent

Analysts previously said North Korea would likely use the drills as an excuse to carry out more missile launches and perhaps even a nuclear test.

Source: https://guardian.ng/news/north-korea-fires-two-ballistic-missiles-seoul-says/

An analysis of rice and corn prices globally and in North Korea show "significant" price divergence since early 2021 – meaning food is far more expensive in the North – "signalling a breakdown" in supply, it added.

Source: https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20230227-north-korea-s-kim-opens-farming-summit-amid-reports-of-food-shortages

Andrew Wallace, Australian MP, Deputy Chair of Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security: “This is happening all day, every day by foreign state actors, particularly China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.”

Source: https://globalnews.ca/news/9545176/the-west-block-episode-25-season-12/

An image from the Russian Defense Ministry of the minister, Sergei K. Shoigu, right, arriving in Vladivostok on Saturday with Kim Jong-un of North Korea, center.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/16/world/asia/kim-jong-un-north-korea-russia.html

Another added: "Not sure if Danny Rose is gonna bang out a Cheryl Cole song or go fight for North Korea."

Source: https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/22132838/danny-rose-cheryl/

Any meeting could take place in the Pacific city of Vladivostok, which is relatively close to North Korea, and would come after Russia's minister of defence visited Pyongyang in the summer for talks with Kim.

Source: https://www.euronews.com/2023/09/05/kim-jong-un-to-meet-putin-and-broker-weapons-sales-for-ukraine-war-use

Any USA conflict with North Korea means a conflict with both China and Russia.

Source: https://japantoday.com/category/politics/north-korea%27s-kim-orders-making-more-missiles-ahead-of-s.korea-us-drills1

A resettlement program is being designed to offer more support to defectors from North Korea, a country run by a dictator and accused of human rights violations.

Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-is-the-dmz-demilitarized-zone-north-south-korea-border/?ftag=YHF4eb9d17

Asked whether the U.S. feared that King could be mistreated or tortured by the North, Kirby responded that North Korea is a “brutal regime” but that the U.S. is still not in position to confirm how he is being treated.

Source: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/world-news/2023/07/north-korea-not-responding-to-us-attempts-to-discuss-american-soldier-who-ran-across-border/

A State Department spokesperson declined to comment on any potential economic boost that North Korea is seeing from munition sales to Russia, but said the US remained concerned that Pyongyang will deliver more military equipment to the Wagner Group.

Source: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2023/01/31/north-korea-could-get-a-vital-lifeline-from-arms-sales-to-russia/

As the war drags on, Moscow is desperate for fresh supplies of ammunition – while North Korea ramps up its weapons testing program, eager to advance its nuclear ambitions.

Source: https://krdo.com/news/2023/09/20/south-korea-says-it-will-not-stand-idly-by-if-north-korea-receives-russian-help-on-nuclear-weapons/

At the time, experts in South Korea quickly raised doubts about the results, saying the quality of the black-and-white images released by North Korea -- purportedly taken from a satellite -- was poor.

Source: https://japantoday.com/category/world/kim-orders-launch-of-north-korea%27s-first-spy-satellite

A US soldier is being held in North Korea after crossing the border from South Korea without authorisation, the US military has confirmed.

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-66240928?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

Between China and North Korea, the logic for increased Japan-South Korea cooperation is clear.

Source: https://thediplomat.com/2023/03/whats-driving-the-japan-south-korea-thaw/

British American Tobacco - British American Tobacco (BAT) has agreed to pay $635m plus interest to US authorities after admitting that one of its subsidiaries sold cigarettes to North Korea in violation of sanctions.

Source: https://rivieraradio.mc/news/riviera-radio-news-wednesday-april-26th