Russia-Ukraine Conflict
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Features
Coordinated Response
Dr. Tae-Eun Song/Korea National Diplomatic Academy The numerous phases of the Russia-Ukraine conflict illustrate the value of different strategies and tactics. Prominent among the lessons learned — and one that should be of special interest to Indo-Pacific policymakers — is the importance of strategic communications and the need for a concerted response to the messaging of malign actors. When Moscow…
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Features
Triple Trouble
The spectacle was unprecedented, though rooted in false claims. Leaders of China, North Korea and Russia convened in Beijing in September 2025 to commemorate Imperial Japan’s surrender to Allied forces 80 years before, ending World War II. High-level representatives of 23 mostly developing nations joined them for a tightly choreographed military parade at Tiananmen Square. Beneath the propagandist fanfare was…
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Conflicts - Tensions
U.S. pushes for peace deal between Russia and Ukraine
FORUM Staff The United States advanced the possibility of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in mid-August 2025 by holding separate meetings with the nations’ leaders. Analysts were cautiously optimistic that the discussions would lead to a trilateral summit to end the more than three-year conflict. U.S. President Donald Trump met for three hours with Russian President Vladimir Putin in…
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Conflicts - Tensions
Japan ‘fundamentally reinforcing’ defense capabilities, bolstering U.S. alliance
FORUM Staff Facing the “most severe and complex security environment” in 80 years — sparked largely by China’s military buildup and aggression — Japan is bolstering its air and missile defenses, expanding its uncrewed systems and strengthening its mobile deployment capabilities, while deepening critical collaboration with Allies and Partners. “The Alliance with the United States is a key pillar of…
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Conflicts - Tensions
A Breakable Bond
The first news to inform North Koreans that their countrymen were fighting — and dying — on Russian battlefields likely came from over-the-border loudspeaker broadcasts by the Republic of Korea (ROK) Armed Forces. For months, the North’s authoritarian Kim Jong Un regime maintained official silence about its deployment of soldiers to Ukraine, where an estimated 4,000 of them were killed…
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Conflicts - Tensions
Imperfect Partners
The partnership between China and Russia is replete with pitfalls. Despite glowing declarations of a “no limits” friendship and increasing collaboration on military, economic and diplomatic fronts, the nations disagree on major initiatives and question each other’s motives. Their relationship is built on a shaky foundation that teeters among extremes of cooperation, rivalry and mistrust. Take, for instance, Beijing’s muted…
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Conflicts - Tensions
North Korea expected to send military construction workers to Russia
Reuters North Korea likely will soon dispatch thousands of military construction workers and deminers to Russia’s Kursk region, South Korea’s intelligence agency said in July 2025. After meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang in mid-June, Russian security official Sergei Shoigu said Kim decided to send 1,000 sappers and 5,000 military construction workers to help rebuild the war-torn area. North Korea…
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Conflicts - Tensions
North Korea-Russia military deals flagrantly violate U.N. sanctions, 11-nation group says
REUTERS North Korea enabled Russia to increase missile attacks against critical Ukrainian civilian infrastructure and supplied more than 20,000 containers of munitions, according to Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, the United States and six other United Nations members. The group, called the Multilateral Sanctions Monitor Team, reported in late May 2025 that Moscow, in turn, helped North Korea improve…
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Conflicts - Tensions
Defense leaders: Ensuring global security requires a collaborative approach
Sentry Ensuring security in a complex geopolitical environment demands a global approach, United States Armed Forces leaders said at a recent security forum. As challenges evolve and the nature of battle changes, the U.S. and its Allies and Partners must continue to work together, vice chiefs of the U.S. Armed Forces said during the 2025 Global Security Forum, hosted by…
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Conflicts - Tensions
‘Expendable’ North Korean troops ordered on futile missions in Russia’s illegal war
FORUM Staff North Korea’s ill-prepared troops, deployed to support Russia’s unprovoked war against Ukraine, are suffering significant casualties, including about 1,000 deaths and injuries during one week in late December 2024. The mass casualty estimates, provided by the United States National Security Advisor’s office and the U.S. Department of Defense, appear to confirm analysts’ predictions that North Korean troops would…
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