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Significance
Besides Russia, only Syria has gone that far. This marks a major shift in Pyongyang’s posture. Long proudly non-aligned, it now stresses solidarity against the West. Its motives are economic and political.
Impacts
Personnel reshuffles are likely when parliament meets on September 7; those sacked may be scapegoated for economic and other failures.
Recent diatribes from Pyongyang confirm that inter-Korean ties will stay frozen; they are anyway not a priority for South Korea’s president.
A declaration of victory over COVID-19 signals efforts towards much-needed economic normalisation, whatever the true status of the outbreak.
Keywords:
North Korea,
AP,
China,
Russia,
South Korea,
international relations,
foreign policy,
health,
economy
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2022
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