His nation is now a de facto nuclear power. Its economy is growing at the fastest pace in years. He has been courted by the leaders of China, Russia and the United States.
Kim Jong-un, the North Korean dictator, has emerged as an unlikely winner of the post-pandemic era. And his newfound strength rests on the systematic exploitation of his own people, which is actively facilitated by Moscow and Beijing.
By supplying troops and ammunition for Russia’s war in Ukraine, Mr. Kim is estimated to be reaping billions of dollars. Russia is repaying Pyongyang in advanced military technology and critical commodities like flour, pork and oil — goods his regime can then resell at home for profit.
But the human cost is staggering, for North Koreans at home and abroad.
Thousands of North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded on faraway battlefields.
“I tremble as I await the daily reports, wondering how many soldiers were lost, whether they suffered reckless losses in the pursuit of bravery, whether they succumbed to fear or fell captive to the enemy,” one young North Korean platoon leader wrote in his diary before he, too, died in combat.
