Notes

Vladimir Putin calls a friend. North Korea has now sent 3,000 soldiers to Russia to support its war against Ukraine, per the U.S. defense secretary on October 23. U.S. intelligence officials say they’ll release satellite photos showing troop ships transporting North Korean soldiers to the Russian port of Vladivostok.

Meanwhile, South Korean intelligence agencies have told their country’s lawmakers that the North plans to send 10,000 soldiers—and has been training a contingent of this size since September. North Korea and Russia deny the claims.

If true, however, the deployment of North Korean soldiers to Russia would be a remarkable sign of the strengthening ties among four of the world’s most powerful autocracies—North Korea and Russia, along with China and Iran. North Korea has already sent Moscow millions of artillery shells for the Ukraine war, while Iran has sent some 200 ballistic missiles—having already been working with the Russian military in Syria since 2015. As the war in the Middle East widens to include Iran, Beijing has said it stands with Tehran. What’s going on with all of this?

Recently at The Signal, Lucan Way explored the forces bringing these countries together. Way says the appearance of a tighter alliance among these autocracies is mostly driven by Moscow and its war needs. And while it’s true that the countries do share an interest in undermining U.S. power globally where they can, they otherwise have little in common—making it unclear just how close this partnership will stay after the war ends.

—Michael Bluhm