Korea

The speakers with which “bombarded” North Korea have disappeared

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South Korea wants to relax the tensions with their neighbors of North Korea. It is demonstrated by the symbolic decision of dismantle giant speakers that he had installed a few months ago and that they served for an unusual purpose: “bombard” to North Korea with K-pop at full volume. Will that gesture of something serve? The Korean conflict. The Korean division that the US and Russia defined after World War II caused the beginning of the Korean conflict, which is still in force since 1948, when both countries created separate governments. That division ended up causing the war of Korea (1950-1953) in which both countries losing and unleashed a definitive division between North Korea and South Korea. Since then, above all, tension. A lot of tension. Constant reprisals. The relationship between the two countries began to become more problematic when last summer South Korea received A rain of balloons loaded with garbage. This country did not stay still, and replied by sending propaganda drones which in turn generated two very different reprisals. From noise to K-Pop. First, North Korea described his neighbor as a “hostile state” in its constitution. And second, “bombing” to South Korea with unbearable noises for 24 hours in border areas. Although these types of measures seem unusual, they are actually a kind of psychological attack that is being used From the aforementioned Korea War. Be that as it may, South Korea responded again with a creative variant: he installed giant speakers on his border with North Korea and began to Put K-pop songs at full volume. White flag. But in June, in a sudden turn of events, South Korea decided to turn off the speakers of propaganda that transmitted both those songs and ideological messages. The decision was made by the New President Surcoreano, Lee Jae-Myung, who since his inauguration has shown a much more appeaser profile than his predecessor, a battalist Yoon Suk Yeol who had no problem that the tension rose level in the Korean conflict. North Korea adds to the gesture. In his first public speech Lee made clear that he intended to initiate a dialogue with his archienemigo, North Korea, to bring peace to the Korean Peninsula. Turning off the speakers was also a gesture that – sortingly – had an immediate response: North Korea also stopped broadcasting strident noises in the border speakers that he had launched months ago. The activists of both countries, yes, maintained the tension. While the south They sent balloons Loaded with critical pamphlets to Pyongyang, from the north they replied with balloons Full of plillas and garbage. President Lee has already asked Stop shaking the tension With those propaganda shipments. Disassembling the speakers. After that “sound truce”, South Korea has taken a new step, and they have begun to disassemble giant speakers They were installed to broadcast K-pop music at full volume. Lee Kyung-Ho, spokesman for the South Korean Ministry of Defense, explained that this was a “practical measure that can help soften interorean tensions without affecting military preparatory.” North Korea continues in his thirteen. Despite this gesture, in Pyongyang they do not seem intention to bring positions. Kim Yo Jong, sister of the Korean leader, Indian Last week that “blind trust” of Seoul in his alliance with the US made the new administration for North Korea not different from that of his predecessor. North Korea seems to be especially concerned about strengthen your relationship With Russia, with which he is collaborating in the war in Ukraineand is in no hurry to soften relations with South Korea. And South Korea, for his perhaps, warns. Although the measure is a clear symbol of Lee’s intention to relax the tension, the South Korean president highlighted that “the army maintains a constant high level of preparation.” Or what is the same: they pray for the best, but they are prepared for the worst. Restore trust. South Korea Unification Minister Chung Dong-Young, explained that there were no similar movements on the other side of the border, but for them this was “the right step.” In addition, he added, “ultimately, the key issue between the two Koreas at this time is to restore confidence, which has been completely lost. I consider that this is a step towards reconstruction of that trust. Image | Firstpost In Xataka | Russia is beginning to run out of the weapons inherited from the USSR. So he is pulling those of North Korea

Russia is beginning to run out of the weapons inherited from the USSR. So he is pulling those of North Korea

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The vast Soviet arsenals that Russia used at the beginning of her invasion of Ukraine They are running out. According to An analysis From the Institute of the kyiv Economy School, shipments from the main Russian military stores have plummeted: from 242,000 tons in 2022 to about 119,000 tons planned by 2025, practically the levels prior to the conflict. The context of the problem. For decades, Russia maintained huge armament deposits Inherited from the Soviet Union. At the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Moscow handed off these stocks to quickly equip their forces. T-72 and T-80 tanks of the 70s were reconditioned and sent to the front. Even some T-54, who entered production in the late 40s, have seen fight in Ukrainian territory. The current reality. He analysis It reveals that the best quality equipment and easier restoration was the first to be mobilized. Pavlo Shkurenko, an institute analyst, explains that now “Russia is sending less material for reconditioning and repair than we know they can handle repair stations.” This fall would suggest that the reserves have dropped the level significantly. The desperate solution. To compensate for this shortage, the Kremlin He has massively resorted to his Asian allies. The data show that 52% of the shipments marked as “explosive materials” towards the Russian arsenales in 2024 came from Nakhodka, a port in the sea of Japan used by North Korea. These shipments went from zero before the war to 250,000 tons in 2024. According to Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov, 40% of all Russian ammunition now comes from Pyongyang. Beyond North Korea. He analysis It also identifies about 13,000 tons of explosive material that, due to its entrance point near the Caspian Sea, probably come from Iran. Meanwhile, China has become the key supplier of the Russian defense industry, even if it does not send direct military aid. Shipments from the Eastern Border Regions of Russia towards military production centers have almost doubled since 2021, exceeding 3 million tons. The strategic dilemma. A priori, it seems a lie that Russia depends both on its external partners, especially considering that they want to breastfeed their self -sufficient image. Franz-Stefan Gady, Viennese military analyst, suggests that Moscow is using North Korean ammunition to maintain the rhythm of fire on the front while reserving higher quality Russian ammunition for possible future conflicts with NATO. What is coming. Russia plans to invest huge sums In rearme futurebut its current situation exposes the limitations of its local military capacity. The war that Putin imagined as a demonstration of force has become a resistance test in which he has ended up depending on allies and an increasing economic cost. Cover image | Kremlin In Xataka | We already know what Russia’s trick is to multiply its drones: it is called “cooling units” and comes direct from China

North Korea is transforming its army into the Ukraine War. And the strangest thing is the response of South Korea

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Russia and North Korea confirmed In April an open secret: that Pyongyang It is cooperating With Moscow in the War of Ukraine at various levelsincluding from troops to military arsenal. In return, Russia is giving North Korea what longs for: a functional army and a military capacity that could represent a challenge to global strategic balance. Thus, the strangest thing is the position of South Korea. Seoul’s silence. I remembered this week The Guardian. Although South Korea reacted rapidly to condemn the launch of ballistic missiles by North Korea in May, his government kept absolute silence when a KN-23 missile North Korean (designed precisely to attack South Korean objectives) hit a residential building in kyiv, Killing 12 civilians. That omission was not an isolated case: there was no answer when Russia displayed An anti -aircraft system To protect Pyongyang, or when it was learned that Russian instructors They were training to North Korean drones operators in their own territory. All this points, According to analyststo a disturbing lack of understanding by Seoul about the scope of the military transformation that is experiencing North Korea, a fed transformation not (alone) into theoretical exercises, but in the real crucible of war in Ukraine. A metamorphosis. According to Ukrainian military intelligence, North Korea supplies 40% of ammunition that Russia uses in its offensive against Ukraine. In parallel, Pyongyang has accelerated its own arms production and has sent an initial contingent of 12,000 soldiers to the Russian region of Kursk, a figure that has grown with another 6,000 troopsmilitary engineers, bridge experts and railways, logistics staff, military police, electricians and even interpreters. Although officially these soldiers unfold in reconstruction tasks, the real gain for Kim Jong-un lies in what their troops They are learning: Modern War, Coordination of Combined Weapons, Management of Recognition and Attack Drones, Electronic War and Technological Systems unknown so far for its Army. And more. Moscow’s support has also been translated into Technology Transfersincluding improvements in the precision of KN-23 ballistic missilesalready used against urban centers such as Járkov. According to Ukrainian intelligence, North Korean soldiers captured They revealed such an extreme ideologization that they tried to commit suicide biting their own veins to avoid being interrogated. One of them proudly said would return to your country as a hero for having fought in a modern war. Political calculation It is the other leg that slides. While Zelenski warns directly To South Korea that the time to act is now, before thousands of North Korean missiles and improved drones begin to threaten Seoul or Tokyo, the South Korean authorities seem look. The posture, According to expert Yang Ukresponds to a delicate balance Between strategy, internal policy and economic considerations. The reason? Openly recognize the danger of North Korean rearmament and his experience in combat would imply have to answer With firm measures (including perhaps sending weapons to Ukraine), something deeply unpopular among the South Korean population. In addition, Lee Jae Myung’s government is committed to a pragmatic foreign policy focused on economic recovery, in a context where Russia was one of its main commercial partners before war. On the political level, the South Korean ideological division revolves around the position against the north: while the right insists on the rearme and the hardening of the defense, the left Defend the dialogue And he maintains that South Korea has no obligation with Ukraine. The recent political crisis derived from the attempt of declare martial law He has left many officials reluctant to expose themselves publicly or make decisions that may be subject to political attacks. Between ambiguity and paralysis. If you want, Seoul’s hermeticism can be understood as an extension of its traditional “strategic ambiguity”, an unwritten doctrine of not getting involved in international conflicts that may put their own relations with key actors such as China or Russia at risk. However, some analysts warn that this position is staying dangerously outdated Faced with threats that evolve in months while military bureaucracy continues to work with planning times that require years. Godzilla level. He told the Guardian The retired general Chun In-bum that South Korea faces a threat comparable to a “level 10, super Godzilla”, but his institutional apparatus still acts as if only saw a tiger. In his opinion, the South Korean military doctrine remains anchored in a paradigm prior to the era of drones and is not adapted to face an adversary that is assimilating, In real timethe lessons of the most brutal conflict of the 21st century. From its point of view, the country is in front of a train that approaches at full speed, and is still in time to move or prepare, but not for much more. Reconfigured future. In short, the Military cooperation Public between Russia and North Korea is already leaving a mark on the Asian power structure. Moscow is integrating Pyongyang into its logistics chain and long -term supplies, in an alliance that could alter regional military balance even after the war ends in Ukraine. Meanwhile, South Korea seems willing to Keep observing From the barrier, trapped between fear of conflict, economic calculation and a political class immobilized by polarization. The problem is that northern neighbors seem to be gaining experience, technology and internal prestige to full machine for his role in a real war. And in that scenario, the question no longer points to whether that experience will turn against Seoul, but rather when. Image | Morning Calm, Getharchive In Xataka | North Korea has been sending armament for months to Russia. In return, Russia is giving him what longs for her: a functional army In Xataka | Russia gave animals, artillery and raw to North Korea. His last gift places his army at another level: space

The Xiaomi Su7 has surprised the entire industry. So much that Hyundai is taking them to Korea to inspect them

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A Xiaomi Su7 Max It has been sighted being transported to the Hyundai offices in Seoul. It has been caught since it carried a provisional research registration. As affirms The South Korean medium Bloter, Hyundai has imported several units of Chinese electric Berlin to analyze them in depth in their R&D centers. Xiaomi is hoarding great success In the world of motor racing with its latest proposals and everything indicates that the South Korean firm seeks to decipher the keys to the success of a model that has revolutionized the market. Hyundai also asks the question. Su7 has become the phenomenon of the year in the world of electric car. Xiaomi has achieved something that seemed impossible: to match the performance of a Porsche Taycan in a car that costs significantly less. With more than 300,000 units sold in just 15 months and The nürburgring record For a production electric, the Chinese model is raising blisters in traditional manufacturers. Su7 Max being carried by a truck to the Hyundai Research Center. Image: Weibo A car to investigate. The South Korean company You will transfer the units acquired to your research center Namyang in Hwaseong and his Seoul headquarters to submit them to an exhaustive analysis. In the reverse engineering process they seek to understand every technical aspect of the vehicle, from its electrical architecture to its Hyperos infotainment system, inherited from Xiaomi’s experience in smartphones. What interests most. Hyundai engineers will pay special attention to the user interface and the SU7 entertainment system, which They have been compared Favorably with Bluelink Connect of the Korean brand. Xiaomi has a great career in the software of its phones, and its work in the SU7 has been so prominent that it has become one of the aspects most valued by users and experts in the sector. A generalized concern. The Chinese advance in the automobile sector is sitting like a jug of cold water to traditional manufacturers. Euisun Chung, executive president of the Hyundai group, already He warned In an internal meeting that “there are inevitable challenges ahead”, clearly referring to competitors such as Byd and Xiaomi. Hyundai’s investment in this segment has grown 15% in the last year, reaching 32.4 billion dollars. And now what. With an expected investment of 17.6 billion dollars by 2025, almost half aimed at R&D, the company seeks to maintain its competitive position in a market where the rules of the game They are changing at a dizzying speed. Although SU7 will not officially reach Europe until 2027, its influence is already predicting an earthquake in the sector. Cover image | Xiaomi In Xataka | Xiaomi will try to repeat in 2027 what worked with mobile phones: that Europeans forget that they need expensive cars

South Korea has been celebrating its particular “bullfights”. And now he faces the same dilemma as Spain

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Spain is not the only country that debate the future of bulls. More than 10,000 kilometers away, in South Korea, politicians, animalists and livestock are engaged in a similar discussion: yes or no to the runs? There the shows are not exactly equal to those of Spain, there are no bullfighters as such, no light costumes, nor picadores or flags, but competitions based basically on violence and on which It is not strange that animals end up bleeding. Perhaps South Korea is far away and its cultural tradition is different from ours, but The debate that is cooked in his society is not so different from that of Spain. Bulls in South Korea? Exact. South Korea may be known for its technology, The K-Popits gastronomy and (sadly) a demographic crisis record, but it is also a bull country. At least it is part of its territory, such as CheongdoGyeongsang del Norte, where there is a bullfighting stadium with capacity for thousands of people and that each spring welcomes A festival Very popular in the region. It is not a novelty or a fashion. In local folklore are references to runs dating at least of the 16th century. And how are they? Quite different from what we are used to seeing in Spain. South Korea presume that, unlike what happens in many other countries, including Spain, in its places animals do not die. Nor do people who deal with them. The reason is that the show has Little to see With ours. There is sand and a square, but in it a bullfighter and a bull are not measured, but two bulls that face each other, sometimes hired by their owners with the help of rings that are stuck when the young have Just half a year. And when does it end? The fight ends when one of the animals turns around and shows its back to the opponent in retirement, without the need for any opponents to end up sacrificed. The show is somewhat unpredictable, although it usually adjusts to some guidelines. As needed Korea Heraldthe usual thing is that the game lasts about 30 minutes and divided into six assaults, half a dozen “acts” during which bulls are rammed with each other. “In Spain it is a game between a human and a bull and in the end the bull dies. In Korea we are proud of not killing him and never dies in a fight,” claims The mayor of Cheongdo, Lee Seung-Yool, in an interview with NPR. “We simply let them express themselves and when one loses the forces he turns around and shows the spine. The bull says he has finished and the fight concludes.” Perfect then? It depends on who you ask. As is the case In Spain or Other countriesin Korea it has emerged The debate whether or not they should be kept around Cheongdo. The reason? Their detractors are convinced that it is a clear case of animal abuse, that the bulls suffer in the runs and the show is harmful to the little ones. Its defenders They hold However, bulls are care and its fights are a South Korean tradition. A percentage: 40%. To support their position, the first (critics with runs) take advantage of a series of studies. One of themprepared by Animal Liberation Wave and Last Chance for Animals (LCA), suggests that bulls are often reluctant to participate in fights. According to their data, of 131 runs organized between February and June in several counties of the country, 54 ended up canceled or shortened because the animals refused to collaborate in the show. “The fact that 40% of bulls flatly reject the struggle and the rest require coercion shows that it is a form of abuse,” reason Kim Doh-Hui, from one of the associations. Sometimes the farmers cause the struggles by pulling strongly from the rings, which, as the animalists have verified, in some cases derives in serious nasal trauma. Animal Liberation Wave has also made A survey which shows that 70% of respondents are concerned about bets that revolve around runs and 62.1% believe that children and adolescents should not see them. The study was done in the southeast region, with a greater ragame of bullfighting. Another report It reveals that 77 fights, 48 ended with the animals bleeding. To those data, animalists add A final reflection: Modern shows are “a form of entertainment for profit disguise of tradition.” “It’s an ancient tradition”. The thing changes if we talk to the defenders of the runs. Lee Kang-Min, an amateur who has been going to Cheongdo for years explained Recently, NPR that bulls are “an ancient tradition” of the nation and sees nothing unnatural in the shows. “The bulls fight when they take them to graze. The fights then became part of our culture.” Around the games there is also a lucrative business: that of bets, which as clarified The chain can develop legally, although with limited amounts. From the street to politics. The debate in Korea has achieved sufficient impact so that it can be followed through national media, but also foreigners, such as The New York Times either The Economistand has crystallized in concrete initiatives. Those who advocate ending the runs have launched a signature collection campaign that already exceeds the 45,000 supportsabout the 50,000 necessary for Parliament to review the proposal. Some municipalities have already chosen to stop financing shows with bulls. South Korea has a law of animal protection that dates back in the early 90s and prohibits hurting animals for entertainment, but leaves the activities that can be considered “folk games” out of that umbrella. Images | Last Chance for Animals (LCA) In Xataka | The great dilemma of South Korea: in an increasingly aging country to become old is a condemnation of poverty

In South Korea there are parents voluntary in cells. There is a word that explains it: “Hikikomori”

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Jin Young-Hae is a fictional name. Your story is not. Last year this South Korean mother explained to the BBC Under the condition of the anonymity what has led him to – in a totally voluntary way – a blue monkey and spend hours and more hours held in a tiny, austere cell, not much greater than a closet and in which he did not have a company, mobile, or portable spent hours. Alone, with your thoughts. The only link with the outside from his peculiar prison was the small hole open at the door through which he was given food. Sounds strange, but there is a word that explains it: Hikikomori. Objective: to isolate yourself from the world. The choice of Mrs. Jin may seem extravagant, but she is not the only one who has made a similar decision in South Korea. BBC has spoken with other inmates and voluntary inmates. In addition to demanding anonymity, they all share two fundamental characteristics. The first, who are parents of young people who are between adolescence and thirty. The second, which have decided to participate in a special program that keeps them held during a brief period in isolation cells. And this last word can be understood in its most literal sense. Jin and the rest of the participants are housed in tiny habitats to which they cannot take or mobile phones. But … why? To understand. Jin or Park Han-Sil, another pseudonyms used by BBC to tell a real case, are mothers of South Korean youth who share another peculiarity: they have been isolated from the world. Jin is the mother of a 24 -year -old who lives withdrawn in his room, neglecting his cleaning and food. Park has a little older, 26 years old, who has already decided to cut all communication with society. Now he barely leaves his room and refuses to take the medication that doctors have scheduled. When voluntary, ladies Jin or Park try to better understand their offspring, put themselves into their skin in an extreme way and especially look for tools to communicate better with them. “I’ve been wondering what I did wrong … it’s painful,” Jin admits50 years. Now, and after passing through the cell, he claims to have “some clarity.” Park also recognizes that isolation has helped him understand the feelings of his offspring. “I have realized that it is important to accept his life without forcing him to fit into a specific mold.” “Confinement experience”. Neither Park nor Jin decided to be a good day in their homes, improvised. His have been planned experiences and the isolation have been done in the Happiness Factory rooms, where the inmates They arrive to experiment in their flesh the “confinement”. For this they can dress a uniform, leave their phones and laptops and be held in bare wall cells, without company. The BBC clarifies That since April there are other parents who have been participating in a 13 -week special education program funded by organizations such as Fundación for the Youth of Korea or the Blue Whale Recovery Center. The program has a clear, and complicated objective: show these fathers and mothers how to communicate better with their children. To this end, it includes a peculiar experience, a three -day period during which participants spend time in rooms in the province of Gangwon that replicate an isolation cell. The keyword: Hikikomori. Jin and Park are mothers of Hikikomoria term coined in Japan already decades ago and that identifies young people who at a certain time of their lives decide to be disturbed almost completely, cutting contact with the world that opens beyond their homes or rooms. The phenomenon is not new, but serious. At least according to the estimates that the authorities handle. Not long ago, the Ministry of Health and Welfare of South Korea conducted a survey between 15,000 young people between 19 and 34 years old and discovered that More than 5% They lived in isolation. If these figures move to the country as a whole, they would show that in South Korea there are hundreds of thousands of people in a similar situation: just over half a million (540,000). Understanding isolation. The program confesses Park, allows the parents of these young people to better understand the reason for seclusion. To her, for example, reading notes written by others Hikikomori He helped him understand his own son’s silences. The South Korean government also has studies that help become a clear idea of ​​the phenomenon of isolation among young people without going through an experience like Hapiness Factory. A study by the South Korean Ministry of Health reflects that 24.1% of young people between 19 and 34 years old who deconciate from the world do so by difficulties in finding work, 23.5% due to problems to relate and 24.8% due to family or health issues. Of backdrop is The competitive society Surcoreana, where from a very young age parents take their children to academies to end up accessing the most prestigious universities in the country. South Korea also stands out for its Work Days marathon. Concern beyond home. The one of Hikikomori It is a phenomenon serious enough to generate concern beyond families. In 2023 the government came to launch A campaign To encourage solitary young people to leave home and “reintegrate into society”, for which he did not hesitate to offer 450 euros designed for young people up to 24 years. Then there was talk that in the country there would be hundreds of thousands of people living in isolation. The advantages of a pause. The mothers and fathers of Hikikomori They are not the only ones in South Korea who seek voluntary isolation. In the country there are those who decide to confine themselves on their own choice, paying even hundreds of euros in exchange for the experience, simply to take a respite from their busy routines. The CBC chain told in 2018, which The case said From Suk-Won Kang, … Read more

If China attacks Taiwan, Russia and North Korea will also do so … but to Europe

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An interview of the New York Times It has opened the possibility of a scenario that concerns a large number of nations. NATO general secretary Mark Rutte, explained The closest thing to a chess board where the movement of a key piece produced a geopolitical earthquake of extraordinary dimensions, according to the leader, everything would begin if China finally decides Attack Taiwan. What would come later would be the closest thing to world war. The context. The extensive interview He came to a key point: the fear of an escalation of Chinese military intervention on the island of Taiwan It has increased drastically He launched his invasion On a large scale of Ukraine. The approach: the war has served as possible model How both taipéi and the international community could answer if Beijing decides to invade. Of course, Rutte took the opportunity to spread the message we listen to incessantly: rearmamentbut from a disturbing perspective. Routte word. “There is more and more awareness, and let’s not be naive about it: if xi jinping attack Taiwan, he would first make sure his smallest partner in all this, Vladimir Putin, and say: ‘Hey, I will do this and I need you to keep them occupied in Europe attacking NATO territory’”, Routte declared. “It is very likely that this is how this advances. And to dissuade them, we need to do two things. One is that it, collectively, is so strong that the Russians never do it. And the second, collaborate with the Indo -Pacific, something that President Trump is promoting vehemently,” added. The strategic clamp. We have coming counting These months. As the military pressure China on Taiwan reaches levels unprecedentedthat key date of 2027 It is glimpsed on the horizon and, meanwhile, Western strategists begin to fear a more gloomy scenario: than Beijing, when launched into an eventual invasion of the island, activate its Russian partner to open a second front in Europe. That was about Rutte’s wordsthat this coordination would not be an improvised act, but a deliberate play. They remembered the Analysts on Twz That, although it seems alarmist, the warning fits with the growing alignment between Moscow and Beijing, which not only share strategic interests, but also reinforce each other in their respective wars: Russia with Chinese technical support in Ukraine, and China benefiting from the distraction that represents the European conflict for US military resources. NATO troops The 2027 horizon. A few months ago We point that Western intelligence reports agree that both China and Russia would be working with similar temporal horizons. Xi Jinping would have ordered the EPL armed forces to be ready to Take Taiwan in 2027a period supported For the CIA and by The statements of the then head of the IndoPacom, when talking about the call “Davidson Window.” In turn, the Rutte ownas well as high controls military from Germany and Ukraine, they argue that Russia could reconstitute your abilities To attack NATO territory Towards 2029. That is, by the end of this decade, both powers would be (it does not mean that it will be so) in technical and logistics conditions to open A double front which would test the American reaction capacity. In practice, this would mean that any Chinese offensive on Taiwan It could coincide With a Russian offensive on the eastern flank of Europe, forcing the United States to divide its resources between two simultaneous war theaters. Pressures on Taiwan. The United States Indo-Pacific Command data (INDOPACOM) leaves no doubt: Chinese military pressure on Taiwan has Increased 300% Annual, with Naval maneuversexercises amphibians, drills landing, rocket and operations releases of aircraft carriers Around the island. Admiral Samuel Paparo warned of a “boiling point” that could crystallize in a real operation if Beijing considers that Washington is too dispersed to respond effectively. Although some analysts consider unlikely that Russia is ready Right to attack NATO, others recognize that even a credible threat or hybrid war actions could force the United States to mobilize resources preventively. And the simple expectation of conflict would already be enough to dilute the American response capacity in the Pacific. Iran and North Korea. Beyond Russia, experts agree that China has other “saturation actors” to divert US attention and media. The recent offensive With B-2 Spirit bombings on Iranian nuclear facilities, it shows that Washington already has part of its arsenal committed in the Middle East. The maintenance of Two groups of aircraft carriers In the region, along with the sustained war Against the hutis In Yemen and the constant tension with Iran, they already suppose a drainage considerable operation. To this is added the latent threat North Koreawhose structural dependence on China makes it a strategic pawn willing to sow chaos if Beijing demands it. Neither Pyongyang nor Moscow would have to launch into a total war: it would be enough with actions of “Gray Zone” Sufficiently to force a reaction from the United States and its allies, dispersing strength, anticipating conflicts and undermining the logistics and tactical concentration that would require a Taiwan effective defense. Wear strategy. The key to the scenario that is emerging is not in the immediate brute force, but in asymmetric deterrence. China knows that a Taiwan invasion is not simply a military operation, but a total geostrategic bet. To have any chance of success, It must guarantee that the United States cannot concentrate your forces quickly in the region. Russia, North Korea and even latent conflicts in the Middle East are part of this architecture. In that context, a weakened, distracted or forced to defend their eastern flank while Washington has to operate on several fronts, would offer the “Window of opportunity” that Beijing needs. Hence the revitalization of the European rearmethe reinforcement of the Defenses in Finland and Poland, and the Increase in spending Military in almost all the countries of the Alliance, are not only reactive measures against Russia, but essential elements of the strategy to also deter China. Washington and unpredictable deterrence. The Trump … Read more

After years of debacle, South Korea has managed to rebound his birth. Now it’s time to find out how the hell has done it

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Demographic statistics is nothing more than that: Demographic Statistics. Pure and hard mathematics, with objective and reading data. For years, however, their chronicles in South Korea transmit a dire air, as of announced death. And it’s normal. The country has seen how its birth rate descended to such low dimensions that in 2024 the country had to declare itself in “demographic emergency” and assume officially that it is a “society Super aging“ Now that seems to be changing little by little, which raises two questions: Has Korea achieved out of the demographic hole in which it has been immersed for years? And if so, how? They are key issues for Seoul, but also for other neighboring countries with birth problems, such as China either Japan. What happened? That against all forecast, South Korea Start to get used to to their demographic statistics arrive accompanied by positive signs. That does not mean that they are good at all, the country has managed to stop its demographic bleeding or its fertility rate stands above “Replacement level”; But they are favorable news after all. And that did not happen for a long time. A figure: 20,717. The latest data published by Statistics Korea show that in April they were born in the country 20,717 babies8.7% more than 19,059 counted during the same month of 2024. The data is interesting because it leaves several positive readings. The first is that three years ago the number of monthly lights remained below the 20,000 barrier. The second is that this 8.7% growth shows the highest year -on -year increase in the last three and a half decades. You have to go back to 1991 to find another similar percentage. More babies, more weddings. There are not only more babies. There are also more couples giving the ‘yes I want’. The data Statistics Korea show that in April 18,921 marriages in the country were formalized, which leaves an interannual increase of 4.9%. The data invites optimism for another reason: it is the thirteenth consecutive month in which this indicator is green. It may seem a minor issue, but in the South Korean society couple and birth They go hand in. There are studies that calculate that less than 5% From babies they are born out of marriage. Coincidence or trend? That is the question that surveys the birth data of Korea. Especially since the last years have been marked by the shadow of the pandemic, which modes to take many couples to postpone their wedding plans or even the decision to become parents. In his favor the country has to They are not the first in positive. Seoul already said goodbye to 2024 with a positive birth rate (the number of births 3.6% increased), something that had not happened for a decade. Looking for the causes. At this point, the question is obvious: beyond the influence of the pandemic, is there any factor that explains the rebound in birth in the country? The question is interesting for South Korea, but also for other nations that have been dealing with demographic challenges, such as Japan, China, Russia or many European nations, including Spainwhich in recent years has gained population thanks basically to foreigners. “The increase in births seems to be influenced by the increase in marriages since last year, the growth of the population of women between 30 and 39 years and various birth promotion policies by central and local governments,” Clarify Statistics Korea to the Yonhap News agency. In summary, after the birth rebound in Korea there would be three major factors: more weddings, the effect of the ‘Probebé’ policies and that in the country there are more women in the first section of the thirties. A concept: echo boombe. At least part of the demographic change would therefore be explained thanks to demography itself. And the key is in a certain group of the cohort of the echo boomers. The Guardian remember That the population born between 1991 and 1995 begins to reach the “ideal” age to marry and have children and that group has grown sensitively. If in 2020 there were about 1.51 million women between 30 and 34 years old, now there are already 1.65 million. To its possible effect, the wide range of policies that for years have deployed the South Korean authorities (both regional and state) to encourage the formation of couples and birth rate are added. And that includes from the delivery of generous ‘Baby checks’ to the application of Fiscal incentives, parental permitsinitiatives for Improve food of mothers or even appointment programs (with prize included) to form new couples. Well but not perfect. The latest data from Statistics Korea are good, but they are far from being perfect and of course they do not allow South Korea to launch the bells on the flight. On the contrary. Although birth is emerging, the country’s fertility rate remains at 0.79far from the replacement level that the country needs to keep its population stable without depending on immigration. In addition, although the number of births with respect to 2024 has increased, they remain clearly insufficient to stop the fall of the national census. The reason? Babies are born, but in the increasingly aging Korean society there are also more deaths. The deaths grew 0.8% year -on -year in April until adding 28,785. Images | Nathan Q (UNSPLASH) and Tommao Wang (UNSPLASH) In Xataka | Throughout Europe, birth rate collapses as soon as women begin to earn more money. Except in Sweden

North Korea has just opened its own “Benidorm” for 20,000 tourists. The mystery is now who will go there

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To Kim Jong-un we usually see him dispatching with uniformed subordinates or supervising missile throws, always cooling in his everlasting MAO neck suit. Much less common is to see it as This Tuesdaywhen it was recorded sitting in a folding chair with a soda and a package of cigarettes while contemplating how people slid down a huge water slide. Nothing strange if we consider that what Kim was doing was neither more nor less than inaugurate The “New Benidorm” North Korea. The Great question Now, after the fanfare and pomp of the inauguration is: How the hell is intended to fill it a hermetic and suspicious country of foreign tourism? Welcome to Wonsan Kalma. North Korea already has His particular Benidorm. Officially, with opening tape cut and fireworks included. Tuesday The leader of the nation, Kim Jong-un, went to the new Megacomplex Kangwon tourist to preside over the start -up of one of its biggest projects: a Marina D´or to the Korean, with aquatic parks, hotels, beach kilometers and ability to accommodate 20,000 guests. MAO NECK WITHOUT. Kim Jong-un is more or less common to see him dispatched with subordinates, meeting with other leaders and supervising missile launches or warships (not always). And in all these cases its aesthetic is usually identical: gray or black suit, usually of the mao neck, and sober expression. Wonsan Kalma is a place of recreation, so there he offered a more informal picture and enjoyed a mass bath which K-pop star. Kim also appeared accompanied by his wife, Ri Sol-Juwho had had a year and a half away from the spotlights, and his daughter Ju-Aeof 12 years already the one that usually signs up as the future heiress of the family saga. Next to them Kim walked along Wonsan beach, inspected the hotels and even sat on a folding chair (refreshment and pitillo by hand) to see how a comrade slid down a water slide. Neither easy nor fast. Wonsan-Kalma is news because North Korea He has just given it By inaugurated, but in reality the project is not new, much less unknown. Moreover, he has been talking about him since 2013, when Kim Jong-un, then just enthroned in the Korea Workers Party advertisement His desire to turn Wonsan into a “tourist city.” Curious bet if one takes into account that the authorities had used the region to Try your missiles. That Kim opts precisely in that area of ​​North Korea is no coincidence: he grew up there, surrounded by luxury, and his coast is bathed by the sea of ​​Japan. The idea was that the new tourist complex was Ready in 2022but on the way several inconveniences crossed: the covid and a serious shortage of materials aggravated by international sanctions, so that his calendar was expanding until he went into the second half of the decade. Last summer the state agency KCNA slid that Wonsan Kalma could be ready in May. It will take something else: you will start receiving visitors July 1. And who will visit it? We know that Wonsan Kalma has hotels, aquatic parks, pools with slides, four kilometers of beachrestaurants and commercial areas, but what is not so clear is how North Korea will manage to fill it. Especially since the government itself remembers that it has the capacity for tens of thousands of visitors: their accommodations can host 20,000 people And in his day he slid that the capacity of the complex would be even greater. The KCNA agency only states that Wonsan-Kalma will begin offering services to “National Clients” As of July 1, without mention of plans to promote the complex or capture visitors outside the country. To the inauguration of Wonsan Kalma, yes, a delegation of Russian authorities including the ambassador, one more sample of the approach between Pyongyang and Moscow. Gesture question. It is not easy to know what plans Kim has in tourism, one of the few legal channels available to the nation to capture foreign currencies; But over the last months the North Korean regime has given forward steps (and Also some other behind) to open timidly to foreign tourism, knocked out after pandemic. By mid -2023 the restrictions They relaxedmonths later the country began to receive Russian visitors already early this year He surprised the world when opening its doors to a reduced handful of Western tourists. That did not last long. Weeks later He turned back. In April the capital celebrated a marathon in which allowed Run to foreigners, especially Russians and Ethiopians. Looking at Russia. The CNN Precise that at the moment the Russians seem to be the only ones who will have it more or less easy to step on the new tourist complex. One of his agencies, Vostok Intur, is in fact promoting several packages for the coming months with Pyongyang scale. Your price? Around 1,800 dollars. In 2019 North Korea received some 300,000 visitors foreigners, especially Chinese, who generated a flow of between 90 and 150 million dollars. Images | KCNA In Xataka | North Korea has revealed a small manhattan of 10,000 apartments. The problem is what is behind the facade

The US attack on Iran was a forceful message to the development of nuclear weapons. Less for North Korea

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It is very possible that a nation has been stuck to television by observing everything that happened in Iran. About 20 years ago, North Korea began Send engineers Specialized in the excavation of deep tunnels to Tehran. Two decades later, what was learned was tested through the greater furtive attack of the United States against Iranian underground nuclear facilities. A nuclear lesson. They had several analysts In the CNN than the recent ones United States bombings by deployment of b-2 bombersThey have caused an immediate shock not only in the Middle East, but also in Eastern Asia. For experts, this act of force launches a clear (and dangerous) message to North Korea: without nuclear weapons, You are vulnerable. For Kim Jong Un, which has been reinforcing for years Your atomic program As the Central Survival Pilar of the regime, the US attack confirms a long sustained narrative: nuclear deterrence is the only reliable shield against a regime change from the outside. Thus, far from determining proliferation, military action against Iran could accelerate Pyongyang’s arms expansion, in addition to strengthening its Strategic Alliance With Russia, which has become A military lifeguardtechnological and vital economy For the North Korean regime since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. The Moscow-Pyongyang axis. We have gone counting. Since 2024, North Korea and Russia have Institutionalized your cooperation in a strategic agreement of broad scope. According to A report of the multilateral sanctions monitoring team, Pyongyang has sent More than 14,000 soldiers and millions of ammunition, including missiles and rockets, to support the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In return, has received Air defense systems, anti -aircraft missiles, electronic warfters, critical military technology and refined fuel. Plus: the ability to Build Shaheds. This exchange not only finances the North Korean military program, but allows you to access to advanced technologiesdirect experience in modern war and an alternative source of resources to Western sanctions. In the eyes of the North Korean regime, the pact is not only pragmatic but necessary in the face of international isolation, and the attack on Iran makes it even more indispensable. Examples feeding the paranoia. From that perspective, the strategic message could not be clearer to Kim: countries that do not have nuclear weapons are exposed to American intervention. Iraq was invaded without having weapons of mass destruction. Libya left his nuclear program in exchange for diplomatic normalization, just to see Gaddafi overthrown years later. Iran signed the nuclear agreement and maintained its enrichment below the arms threshold, According to the OIEAbut it was still attacked. Two certainties. In contrast, North Korea has already done Six nuclear testshe owns between 40 and 50 active heads and has developed ballistic missiles Intercontinental capable of reaching the United States. Its arsenal, which includes multiple launch vectors, makes Pyongyang an actor with real deterrence and radically differentiates it from Iran. For Victor Cha, from CSIS, American bombings to Iran reinforce in Kim two certainties: The United States does not have a viable military option against the North Korean nuclear program, and its decision to maintain and expand its nuclear arsenal was correct. First nuclear submarine of North Korea Tripartite deterrence. In addition, there is a difference against Iran: North Korea has a Triple Defense System that complicates any American military option. First, its own nuclear arsenal, second, the defensive alliance with Russia, which allows Moscow to intervene automatically in case of attack, and third, the legal and political need of Prior consultation With South Korea, required by the bilateral treaty with Washington, which converts any action into a regional and diplomatic high voltage issue. In this regard, Professor Lim Eul-Chul warnedfrom the Kyungam University, which attacking North Korea could detonate a Total nuclear wargiven your ability to respond. “It’s not Iran,” LEIF-AMER EASLEY emphasizesby Ewha Womans University. Pyongyang can Attack directly To the United States and, in addition, Seoul is shot from most of its weapons systems. Deterrence when rearma. The foreseeable consequence of the attack on Iran is a hardening of the North Korean position. The regime could Accelerate your tests Ballistics, advance in new eyes, experiment with long -range propulsion and expand your attack vectors. I would also do it under the mantle Russia protector and in open indifference to the resolutions of the UN Security Council, whose coercive effects have been reduced to a diplomatic formality. In strategic terms, North Korea’s reaction will probably not be defensive but expansive: Technological cooperation with Moscow, joint military exercises, transfer of ballistic knowledge and new forms of economic and military interdependence. The TNP. They remembered In The Conversation That the non -proliferation treaty, adopted in 1968, was a commitment between the five recognized nuclear powers (United States, Soviet Union, France, United Kingdom and China) to not transfer nuclear weapons and commit, at least formally, to disarmament. In return, other countries promised not to develop atomic weapons. The treaty, then reinforced with the additional protocol of the OIEA, endowed the nuclear inspection agency for broad powers for Verify peaceful use of atomic energy. It was the Oiea who first warned in 2003 about the suspicious enrichment of Uranium in Iran. And it was also this organization that, weeks before the recent bombings, denounced the Iranian breach for the first time in twenty years. A fragile pact. However, effectiveness of the TNP It has been undermined for decades. The nuclear powers never fulfilled their disarmament commitments. In the case of North Korea, He withdrew from the treaty In 2003, he performed his first nuclear test in 2006 and today could possess up to 50 eyelets. Israel, meanwhile, never formally joined, and maintains a unpacked arsenal. India, Pakistan and North Korea have stayed out or have been disconnected. In other words, the covenant has weakened by its own architecture that, although universal, is structurally vulnerable. Iran and North Korea. To all this, the professor of economics underlined Anthony Burke that Iran now has Two roads. The first would be to reconstruct its uranium enrichment capacity and acquire … Read more

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