that's all for now, mapped out is next calculating the likelihood of rules between north and south korea that's coming up after a short break. i'm anthony out in berlin for me and the scene here. we'll have more news for you in 45 minutes time statement. the votes, people have to say the that's why we listen to based on the rituals every weekend. w kim jones is threatening the world with and less miss style test. you might be thinking what's new. we're used to north korea's leader kim jong own being presented either as

a super villain or last off in dictate, or jokes. but now some north korea watchers are sounding the alarm. st. can, might actually want a war. how big when done know can seems to be 6 of trying to make peace and things are working out in his favor these days kim is very involved in that's a threat, especially for south korea, which is backed by the us is the frozen conflict between north korea and south korea heating back up. and is kim more dangerous than ever the these days kim jonathan seems to be pretty and to maps. and when dictator start focusing a lot on the borders, that's always a bit worrying. here he is inspecting a model of the south korean capital sol,

and warning that his country is ready to completely annihilate his neighbor to the south. if provoked whatever that means. and this is the border, he particularly has his eye on the disputed maritime border between north and south korea, known as the northern limit line or n o l. instead of just extending the land border out into the seats, look at how the boundary is drawn here, coming up over these islands. they've remained under de facto south korea and control, put north korea claims these waters, which is why it's not surprising that they don't appreciate us and south korean nate. the drills here in 2010, north korea attacked one of the islands, killing several people there. now, north korea has repeatedly fired artillery into the waters around the islands as a threat. north korea has been unhappy about this border for decades now can seems done with tolerating it. he called it illegal. it seems to me he wants to crash for

some reason. he wants that to happen and he's preparing for it. this is robert carlin. he's been working on north korea for over 50 years and has been there at least 30 times, including as a us intelligence officer. carland things him don't on this talk of the legal borders might only be the 1st step to white or military action. another worrying development came recently declared that south korea is now the north principal enemy before peaceful reunification was the official call. tim was effectively saying south korea is no longer part of the traditional core of the korean people. and the implication is therefore it's a target. and kim has the military might to back up his rhetoric. he has nuclear weapons and he's in charge of one of the largest armies in the world.

the tensions between the 2 sides extend from the sea over on the land, into the dmc. it's the most militarized, demilitarized zone in the world. and it's where the war between north and south korea has been frozen for 70 years. and where the korean peninsula is basically still split along cold war lines. how did we get here? at the end of world war 2, the korean peninsula was liberated from japanese occupation. the winters of the war, the soviet union and the united states decided that they would each occupy half of the peninsula. they agreed on this latitude as the dividing line. in 1950 north korean troops invaded the south and the south pushed back. it was a brutal war. at least 2 and a half 1000000 people were killed. the north was backed by the soviet union and

later also by china, both communist states. the south was backed by you and troops led by the us. and you'll see the cold war super powers never really went away. in 1953, an arm is disagreement was signed. freezing the front line of the war, roughly back along the same line again. it ended the fighting and created the buffer zone. we already saw the d n z, but it left many things unresolved, like that maritime border. that wasn't in the agreement, the un led by the us through that later without actually asking north korea's permission. and it was in a peace treaty. so the war between north and south korea never officially ended the, the same family, the launch, the war is still in charge. now, the ken family is currently the only communist dynasty. i kim joan

own rules just like his father and grandfather before him with the totality of terry and cult of personality and an iron fist using intimidation and violence. north koreans don't have access to the outside world. leading the country is illegal without permission. and then came the pandemic. north korea had some of the strictest border controls in the world. and kim started building hundreds of kilometers of fencing and walls along north korea's border with russia and china. or like here, satellite images show that a double fence pops up after the pandemic shut down. north korea even introduced to shoot to kill order along the chinese border. so kim has pretty much sealed off his country and locked in his people, but he's open for business with his authoritarian neighbors. north korea shares a 1400 kilometer long border with china without ends nor their neighbor. the

country wouldn't survive. almost all of its very limited trade happens with the china, which brings us to russ on a north korean region right on the border with both china and russia. it's a special economic so which means this is where the communist country has been letting a bit of capitalism happened since the 1990s. now something new is happening here. just look at how close north korea's to me on guns station and rushes across on station are this satellite image from october 2023. analyzed by the center for strategic and international studies shows an unprecedented number of rail cars at the north korean train station. some of these rail cars seem to end up in russia. the crates are covered, so no one really knows what's inside. but the c s i s experts say it's likely north korea and munitions for russia,

which is 2 years into its full scale war against ukraine. ukraine says it has found north korean artillery shells and missiles on the battlefield. the u. n. is confirmed, the use of messiah north korea, russia to neither claims. what's kim john own getting out of it? well, reportedly a lot of the money and foods and may be given can oil and raw materials and parts to make more weapons, potentially including band missile technology. some of this stuff has been hard for kim to come by. so far. north korea is under international sanctions. for building and testing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, oil deliveries, for example, violate those sanctions to the beach. a these days kim is very involved in jenny town is the

director of a program devoted to north korea analysis at the simpson center. think time she's been working on north korea for almost 20 years. this is a big win. fortunes on, keep that on. he bet on the war and so far that fast now is paying off for him. this russian made the luxury limousine is an example of that . it was a fancy gift from fulton, took him on his recent trip to russia. luxury items are also section. so this gift is put in showing how little he cares about all that. because both kim and fruits and are under sanctions tiers to a growing friendship. the 2 also share a passion for showing off their weapons. and it's more than just showing off. now, no, it creates getting fields. experience for their missiles. there's been evidence of

them in the ukranian battlefields and as they improve the quality of good, be a cheap choice for others in the future. what this means improve north korean weapons on the illegal market. potential buyer, as includes the syria and iran on his trip to russia, kim jones on also toward a spaceport in the far east of the country. south korean intelligence has said it probably was russian health that enables north korea to launch its 1st spice satellite into orbit. right now. what north korea gas from russia is a level of military cooperation. it has not had since the cold war since the soviet union. right. and that is a huge, huge wind for kim's on line. it might also be a win for kens nuclear weapons, even though no one knows for sure if russia is helping him develop that. what we do

know is that kim has carried out an unprecedented number of messiah launches since 2022. people call them provocations if they're just intended to get under our skin. they're not, they're testing new systems. and sound. almost all of them seem to work. these missed the launch is used to have a differential purpose. the idea that they were always so dangerous was mistaken to north page, did not want to go to work for the whole purpose of their policy was to engage the americans not to go to war with. in other words, wesson's testing was kind of part of their diplomatic policy. a way to make sure south korea and more importantly, it's super power back or the us kept talking to them. that takes us back to the d. n z. it looks pretty good when these meetings were happening there. a few years ago

. south korean president moved j in and conjunction and we're taking steps to try and finally end the war. because remember, the to korea's never officially made peace and us president donald trump made a surprise appearance. he also came to visit the dmc and was actually the 1st us president ever to set foot into north korea and territory. many didn't take the meetings between the 2 seriously, but actually there were clear signs that kings on really was willing to do something right. age and something on this nuclear weapons program. and so can, may have been willing to give up a lot in return for sanctions relief. but at their summit in hanoi, the talks collapsed was a terrific failure, a personal failure for conjunction and from

that point on, he began thinking how he was going to change the policy. i don't believe they can get anything from the us. i think they've given up right now, the idea that the sanctions will be listed or could be listed if they just did that . right. right. kim seems to have abandoned the hope for peace. and all this isn't happening in a vacuum. we see china, russia and north korea working more closely together. and iran is in the mix as well. you know, came down on was one of the 1st world leaders to talk about and embrace the idea of a new cold war layer politically aligned with no rush and china against the west kens allies. russia and china are back to thinking about spheres of influence and territorial ambitions. russia is trying to take over ukraine, and china is zine,

taiwan. that's the context for kens, talk about the maritime border. it could just be rhetoric or he could be planning to take over one of these little islands. so will he really start a war? this could be a long fuse and a long term plan. while he prepares him his own people, well he, he gathers together the equipment he needs well, he convinces his allies that they need to support him. i don't know where he thinks he is in this and therefore we're a close use of pulling the trigger. there's definitely a reason on to reason for concern and a reason why we should be trying to rebuild diplomacy with the north koreans in order to, you know, pull them back into the international community. as we've seen at the moment kim doesn't really seem interested in that. instead he started looking elsewhere for support. so is that enough to give him what he wants?

or does he have more dangerous options? the this is a time when we have more on the european continent and refusing to invest in defense . i think it's a, it's complete kind of wishful thinking. i mean, realize not american movie, there's no good about in the world. i respectfully disagree. i thought this was very irritating, but this is precisely the point. forget or do you know about the usual political, the paid for the 2024. you repeat election? we are flipping the script. folders will be at the center of the debate, and politicians will ask the questions on topics shaping the election like the one ukraine my name is call joy.