Pyongyang has just ratified its new defense pact with Moscow. North Korean soldiers are deployed near Kursk, in an unprecedented engagement that marks a reversal of Kim Jong-un’s foreign policy.

The second Trump administration will face an emboldened and arguably more dangerous North Korean leader at a moment of acute alarm among the US and its allies about the threat posed by Kim Jong Un’s regime.

Vladimir Putin despised Kim Jong-un long before the Ukraine conflict erupted in February 2022, as revealed by his former speechwriter. In recent years, however, diplomatic ties between Moscow and Pyongyang have significantly strengthened,