One step closer to complete isolation

Despite the international community’s concerns, North Korea and Russia have started to show signs of suspicious trading. According to the satellite images from Planet Labs, a U.S. satellite data company, North Korea is converging large containers and cargo to a train station bordering Russia. The move was caught from Sept. 18, five days after the summit in Russia between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin. What’s inside the containers has not been disclosed.

But the international society cannot dismiss the suspicion that the two countries have embarked on a weapons trade: North Korea providing artillery shells and ammunition to Russia, in a war with Ukraine, in return for sensitive military technology. To dispel such doubts, they must make public what’s being exchanged between them. Otherwise, it will only exacerbate the pains of their people from international sanctions.

In a Supreme People’s Assembly meeting last month, North Korea stipulated the advancement of its nuclear weapons in its Constitution. Following the legislation last year of a pre-emptive nuclear strike against its enemies, North Korea inserted the clause on sophistication of nuclear weapons into the Constitution. That is nothing but a brazen threat to the security and peace in Northeast Asia — and a warning to Uncle Sam.

While delivering news about the Hangzhou Asian Games in China on Monday evening, North Korea even called South Korean teams “puppets.” After South Korean reporters called the country “North Korea” instead of the “Democratic People’ Republic of Korea (DPRK)” in the press conference, North Korean reporters attacked them for not using the official name of the country. We wonder why it adheres to ideology even in international sports competitions.

Interestingly, North Korean athletes’ uniforms did not have any trademarks or advertisements of international brands on them, just the flag. The country could have improved its image of a closed society by taking advantage of such advertisements. But it didn’t — in order to avoid any sponsorships by global sporting goods companies. Even in the sports venue, North Korea is being shunned by the rest of the world.

There could be limits to the international community’s checks on the North’s repeated violation of international laws through illicit weapons trading or a show of force to ratchet up tensions in the region. But such acts will only invite further isolation from the world. The North Korean leader demanded his people stand on their feet and look at the world outside. Given the way the athletes and others behave, though, they seem to be reluctant to follow what their leader says.