Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Russia and lobbied other countries for more. President Biden’s administration expanded his economic sanctions to target Russia’s two largest financial institutions, Sberbank and VTB Bank, to “drastically” affect “their fundamental ability to operate.”
The European Union also froze assets belonging to Putin and Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov, imposed sanctions against Russia’s finance, energy, technology and transportation industries, as well as placing a ban on Russian flights over its airspace. "With these additional sanctions, we are targeting all who are having a significant economic role in supporting Putin’s regime, and benefit financially from the system,” EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said in a press release. “These sanctions will expose the wealth of Putin’s elite. Those who enable the invasion of Ukraine will pay a price for their action.”
NORTH KOREA BLAMES THE U.S. FOR RUSSIA’S INVASION
At an emergency U.N. session where dozens of diplomats condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, North Korea’s ambassador, Kim Song, blamed the U.S. and its allies for their “hegemonic policy” which threatens peace and security of other sovereign states. This statement echoes Russia and China’s official stance criticizing “the eastward expansion of NATO” and justifying Russia’s “legitimate security demands” respectively. The special session ultimately failed to adopt a resolution condemning Russia’s attack due to Moscow’s veto.
“We clearly remember how Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya’s sovereignty and territorial integrity were violated by the U.S. and the West in the past under the pretext of international peace and security,” Kim said, following North Korea’s official statements blaming the U.S. as the “root cause” of the Ukrainian war. “It is absurd for the U.S. and the West, that have devastated Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, to mention the respects of sovereignty and territorial integrity of the situation of Ukraine,” as he concluded that there will never be peace “as long as there remains unilateral and double-dealing policy of the U.S.”
NORTH KOREA’S OLDEST ALLY
Following Japan’s defeat in World War II, the Soviet Union played a key role in the establishment of North Korea in 1948 after occupying the northern half of the Korean peninsula and helping Kim Il-sung, the grandfather of the current leader Kim Jong-un, become the first leader. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Moscow revitalized its ties with Pyongyang under Vladimir Putin’s leadership in 2000. For the past twenty years, Russia has been lending diplomatic influence to the regime and politically aligning itself with North Korea.
It is interesting to note that Russia and China have previously lobbied to lift sanctions against Pyongyang at the U.N. Security Council, and perhaps to return the favor, North Korea was one of the only representing country to speak out and defend Russia’s invasion at the recent U.N. General Assembly in New York – a conspicuous display of Pyongyang’s abiding support for one of its oldest and only allies.
A SECRET BACK AT HOME
The North Korean central party leaders waited two days after the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 before delivering the news to party members at their private weekly self-criticism meetings, which are reserved for the privileged or for exemplary soldiers who complete long mandatory stints in the armed forces. “Yesterday, each regional party committee in the province informed all the party members that our strong ally Russia was at war,” an official from the northwestern province of North Pyongan told Radio Free Asia on February 27, 2022. According to the source, the party members had already known about the war from their Chinese acquaintances, thus the news was no surprise to them. Instead, they were more curious as to why the authorities had kept the news of the invasion private and the reasons behind why Russia decided to invade Ukraine. “International relations are strained with Russia at war, so the regional party committee demanded that everyone be ready to be mobilized at all times,” the source said.
Another source told Radio Free Asia that after the news was broken to party members in the northeastern province of North Hamgyong, it began spreading rapidly among the public, “[they] not only stated that Russia is at war, they also ordered us to be prepared to enter into war immediately under any circumstances…[in] response, some residents showed a radical reaction, saying they wish that war would break out and this disgusting system we are living under would come to an end.” This second source also revealed that some residents recognize the hypocrisy of Kim’s administration siding with Putin while Russia invades an independent country.
