On the Korean Peninsula

Another unstable part of the world:

The last written notes of a North Korean soldier have revealed how Pyongyang’s troops are being used as “bait” to lure out and shoot down Ukrainian drones.

The diary of the dead man, published by Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces, described the reckless tactic along with expressions of love for Kim Jong-un and a “longing” to return to his homeland.

On one notebook page, a crude drawing shows a stickman soldier breaking cover to attract the attention of a drone, while his two comrades lie in wait to shoot it down.

“When the bait stands still, the drone will stop and it will be shot down,” the soldier wrote in scrawled handwriting, translated by The Wall Street Journal.

The drone-trapping instructions detailed how the “human bait” should stand within seven metres of the Ukrainian drone which will then be “neutralised with precision shooting”.

Military observers and Ukrainian commanders have said that North Korean soldiers have not been trained in modern warfare and are being used as cannon fodder by their Russian allies.

 

Yet look what the Ukrainians are ready to do: 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday he was ready to hand over captured North Korean soldiers to Pyongyang in exchange for the return of Ukrainian POWs held in Russia.

Zelenskyy's offer came hours after South Korea's National Intelligence Service confirmed Ukraine's announcement from the previous day that it had captured two North Korean soldiers.

Kyiv said Saturday they had been wounded fighting Ukraine's troops in Russia's Kursk region, but at the time did not provide any proof of their nationality.

 

Zelensky, are you mad?

 

Japan adnd South Korea vow to strengthen ties:

Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya became the first Japanese top diplomat to visit South Korea in nearly seven years on Monday, holding talks with his counterpart in Seoul on bilateral and trilateral cooperation just a week before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is due to take office.

Iwaya met with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, with Cho looking to reassure Iwaya of the government’s stability and its commitment to bilateral ties in the wake of the political chaos unleashed by President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment over his short-lived bid to declare martial law.

South Korea and Japan remain committed to "unwaveringly" developing bilateral ties under any circumstances, Cho told a news conference after the talks, with the two sides agreeing to continue to deepen cooperation across a number of areas.

In Monday’s talks, Iwaya and Cho also discussed ways to maintain momentum for trilateral cooperation with their mutual ally, the United States, ahead of Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.