Pentagon issues North Korea warning as 10,000 troops set to join Russia’s war in coming weeks

This is a very, very significant move for the North Koreans, and it's not one that we should be taking as any kind of continuity, ... even when they were involved in support of socialist allies in the past."

Ramani said,

It is crucial to comprehend the reason behind the sudden surge in cooperation between Putin and Kim,

Maslov said

The Chinese are not supportive of this actively, but they're also not going to be working against it, ... and they're going to try to see what they can do to maximize their own self-interest, while remaining vigilant of the fact that now North Korea will on issues like nuclear policy, on issues on how to escalate in the region, will be taking input and advice from both Moscow and Beijing and deciding which advice is better."

Ramani said

The foundations of the close relationships between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the People's Republic of China, as well as Iran's relationship with North Korea, can be traced back to the 1980s, specifically during the Iran-Iraq War,

Amir Mohammed Esmaeili, author, researcher and Ph.D. candidate at Shanghai International Studies University in China, told Newsweek

The worst-case scenario is pretty much what we're seeing in Ukraine on a daily basis,

Ramani said

Now the DPRK has sent soldiers to fight in the war,

Chivvis said

The major unknown is the position of China, as it used to be the only formal ally of the DPRK since 1961, and is rather cautious and general in assessments, advocating for peaceful resolution through negotiations, keeping the reasonable distance from all the outbreaks,

Gubin said

As South Korean officials suspected the DPRK forces would have been dispatched to assist the Russian Army, they claimed some direct aid to Zelensky's regime could be possible, including lethal weapons delivery,

Gubin said

This is a partnership that's been going on for about 45 years,

Ramani said

North Korea can provide Russia with arms and military assistance, and in return, North Korea's military can acquire valuable experience in real combat situations,

Maslov said

For North Korea, ... the potential Iran-Israel conflict may also be an opportunity to observe how well Iran's weapons fare against the Israel/West/South Korea air defense system."

Lee said

The main reason of the DPRK's refusal of the U.S. former suggestion of the compete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization was the total lack of the security guarantees,

Gubin said

Although Iran initially sought to rekindle its relations with the West through the JCPOA, ... the U.S. withdrawal from the accord, followed by a stringent maximum pressure campaign, led Iranian political and academic elites to a shared conviction: that national interests would be better advanced through a 'Look to the East' policy."

Esmaeili said

North Korea is obviously in a situation right now where they basically want to have a bit more of a role beyond the peninsula,

Samuel Ramani, associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, told Newsweek

Alexey Maslovgeneral

A military partnership has been established in Asia for the first time among nations that are not friendly towards the United States,

Alexey Maslov, director of the Institute of Asian and African Studies at Moscow State University, told Newsweek

The European security is far beyond from there,

Gubin said

North Korea has provided Russia with large numbers of artillery rounds—perhaps as many as 5 million shells over the last year—which Russia badly needs to sustain its war effort,

Chivvis told Newsweek

The easiest area of collaboration for North Korea will be continued arms sales,

Lee said

Even if not for combat operations, ... North Koreans may be used for other missions such as guarding the logistics points and bases, protecting technicians and engineers in the rear, and assisting in constructing fortifications."

Lee said

Moscow and Pyongyang are definitely getting closer in the military domain, considering Article 4 of the new security Treaty, as well as practical interest in obtaining Russian advanced technologies and examining combat experience,

Gubin told Newsweek