
Last September, Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to the Vostochny space launch rocket drome in Russia's far east and pledged to aid North Korean satellite development. Since then, South Korea has reported that North Korea is supplying mortars, rocket launchers, shells, short-range ballistic missiles, anti-tank missiles and portable anti-air missiles to Russia for its assault on Ukraine. Those developments are a warning sign of changing "transactional relationships" among Russia, China, and North Korea--the "Democratic…