North Korea has sent 3000 troops to Russia, US says – National & International News – WED 23Oct2024

North Korea has sent 3000 troops to Russia, US says.

Turkey: Kurdish group blamed for shooting that killed 5 at defense firm.

North Korea has sent 3000 troops to Russia, US says 

US defense spokespeople say they have evidence that 3,000 North Korean troops have been deployed for training in Russia, possibly to fight in Ukraine. Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un signed a mutual defense pact earlier this year. While the terms were not published, it is widely speculated that North Korea would receive some Russian rocket tech in exchange for producing bullets and other armaments for Russia’s fight in Ukraine. It now appears that North Korean boots on the ground in Ukraine may have been part of the deal. 

3000 troops will not make a huge difference for Russia on the battlefield in Ukraine. The contribution of weaponry and ammunition is much more significant to Russia’s war effort. 

Regardless of the size of the potential fighting force, the West is viewing it as an escalation. Today, White House National security spokesman John Kirby told reporters, “I can tell you one thing, though, if they [North Korea] do deploy to fight against Ukraine, they’re fair game”. 

Depending how one interprets “fair game”, this could signal a US green light for attacks on North Korean interests. Putin has used similar rhetoric towards the US as our involvement in the Ukraine conflict has deepened. When the White House signaled recently that they would allow Ukraine to use US-supplied long-range weapon systems to attack deep within Russia, Putin suggested that he could arm foreign actors to attack Western interests, potentially to include US military bases abroad.

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Turkey: Kurdish group blamed for shooting that killed 5 at defense firm

This morning, a man and a woman entered the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAS) near the Turkish capital of Ankara and opened fire. The assailants also set off explosives, ultimately killing five people and wounding over a dozen others. The attackers were also killed at the scene. 

TUSAS is a state-owned military contractor which produces both civilian and combat helicopters and is currently developing Turkey’s first fighter jet.

While no group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, investigators suspect that the assailants were connected to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The PKK is an outlawed Kurdish separatist group which for decades has carried out attacks on both civilian and military targets in Turkey and Syria, demanding greater rights for the Kurdish minority group. 

Peace talks derailed

Over the two decades that Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been in power in Turkey, Turkish relations with the Kurdish people have fluctuated. In 2009, Erdogan was intent on ending the decades-long conflict, and began making concessions that would improve the conditions of the Kurdish people and allow them greater freedoms. 

However, in 2015, a pro-Kurdish rival in challenged Erdogan’s grip on power in parliament. In response, Erdogan once decided to crack down brutally on Kurdish liberation activists, and even Kurdish civilians not involved in either the politics or the violence. 

Today’s attack coincided with a recent push to renew the Turkish-Kurdish peace process. It’s unclear at this time what the motivations for the attack were. Possibly some in the PKK are unhappy about the prospect of the PKK’s leader Abdullah Ocalan renouncing violence and order the group to disband. An ally of Erdogan’s raised this possibility yesterday, potentially as a precondition to freeing Ocalan from prison, where he has been since the mid-90s.