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What Pyongyang's 27 July 2023 gathering showed
Summary
A look back at a Pyongyang meeting that brought North Korean, Russian and Chinese representatives together beside a display of banned missiles.
What did it mean when Russia's defence minister stood beside Kim Jong-un at a display of ballistic missiles? On 27 July 2023, Kim, Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu and a Chinese delegation met in Pyongyang to mark the 70th anniversary of the cessation of hostilities in the Korean War.
Kim and Shoigu also attended an exhibition of North Korean ballistic missiles. Multiple United Nations resolutions prohibit those missiles, and both China and Russia had endorsed those resolutions.
A Russian thread elsewhere
Three days earlier, on 24 July 2023, the United States announced sanctions on three senior Malian officials, including Defence Minister Sadio Camara. Washington accused them of helping to facilitate the presence of the Russian paramilitary Wagner Group in Mali.
The two items were separate events, in Pyongyang and in Washington's dealings with Mali. Each, however, involved Russia's military links abroad. The Pyongyang scene placed a Russian minister and a Chinese delegation at an event where weapons covered by UN prohibitions were on show.
