Ep. 20 | Convergence of Dictatorships: Putin and Kim’s Burgeoning Alliance

Vandenberg Flash Focus

Dr. Victor Cha, senior vice president for Asia and Korea at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and a distinguished university professor of government at Georgetown University, and a member of the Vandenberg Coalition advisory board, joins Flash Focus to discuss the recent meeting between Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, a summit that designated a ‘comprehensive strategic partnership’ between Russia and North Korea, marking the most significant and far-reaching agreement between the two nations in the post-Cold War era. Victor joins Flash Focus to situate this recent meeting in the context of Kim Jong Un’s nuclear arsenal and future plans for military buildup, Russian-North Korean coordination in evading the international sanctions regime, North Korea’s support of Russia in the war against Ukraine, and the nations’ joint campaign to undermine American leadership and Western stability.

Jump to:

00:02:15 The history of the Russian-North Korean and its modern objectives

00:04:00 Key elements of the new Putin-Kim strategic alliance

00:7:29 Implications for North Korean involvement in the war in Ukraine

00:10:12 Dynamics among the Russia-China-North Korea-Iran axis

00:15:13 Recommendations for a Western diplomatic & military response

00:22:41 Differing approach between a Biden 2.0 & Trump 2.0