Daily News Brief

July 26, 2023

Top of the Agenda

Military delegations from China and Russia arrived in North Korea (Reuters) yesterday in a rare flurry of public diplomacy ahead of Pyongyang’s celebration tomorrow to mark the seventieth anniversary of the end of the Korean War. Russia’s defense ministry said the visit will help strengthen military ties between the two countries, though Russia has denied U.S. accusations that it is receiving North Korean munitions for the war in Ukraine. 

As North Korea has emerged from pandemic-era isolation, the United Nations reported last month that Russia has resumed sending oil (Bloomberg) to North Korea for the first time since 2020. A U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson said yesterday that China and Russia “have a potential role to play” in urging North Korea back to the negotiating table over nuclear arms control.

Analysis

“North Korea inviting delegations from both countries seems to be a case of history rhyming, whereby Pyongyang is gearing up to stand up against the West, but perceives the need to maintain relatively balanced ties with both China and Russia," Sino-NK’s Anthony Rinna tells Reuters.

“[North Korean leader Kim Jong-un] has found fresh ways to fill his depleted coffers, often involving neighbors Russia and China. This money is enabling him to ignore incentives designed to bring him back to the negotiating table, and press ahead with building his atomic arsenal,” Bloomberg’s Jon Herskovitz writes.

On this episode of The President’s Inbox, the Stimson Center’s Jenny Town discusses North Korea’s nuclear program. 

Pacific Rim

Hun Sen announced that he will step down (Nikkei) after ruling Cambodia for thirty-eight years, and his eldest son and current army chief Hun Manet will become the prime minister by August 23. Hun Sen is expected to remain in government and become the Senate president.  

In this In Brief, CFR expert Joshua Kurlantzick writes that Hun Sen’s succession plan could create chaos in the country.

Japan: For the first time on record, the number of Japanese citizens fell countrywide (Nikkei) over the past year to 122 million, the government reported, while the population of foreign residents has grown to nearly 3 million. Tokyo is studying measures (Nikkei) to ease the arrival of foreign workers. 

South and Central Asia

The Taliban government began to enforce a ban (VOA) on beauty salons yesterday, which had been one of the few remaining places where women could work and socialize outside of their homes. The ban leaves tens of thousands of women without employment in a country battling an ailing economy. 

India: The opposition coalition introduced a no-confidence vote (Economic Times) against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his handling of ongoing violence in the state of Manipur. They aim to prompt Modi to speak on the issue in front of parliament. 

Middle East and North Africa

U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley downgraded Israel’s credit rating (Times of Israel) yesterday after parliament passed the first pillar of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul plan. Meanwhile, the financial services firm Moody’s Investors Service warned of “significant risk” and “negative consequences” for Israel’s economy and security. U.S. bank Citibank also warned against clients investing in Israel.

Tunisia: Around three hundred people demonstrated in the capital, Tunis, (AFP) yesterday on the two-year anniversary of President Kais Saied’s decision to suspend parliament. Protesters called for the release of about twenty detained opposition members.

Sub-Saharan Africa

In a regulatory filing, Gabon said it issued invitations for buyers to purchase three government bonds. The transaction is part of a plan to swap at least $450 million in debt for a smaller amount and use the savings to fund conservation, Reuters reported. 

Kenya: Opposition leader Raila Odinga said that his coalition plans to present evidence of police brutality (Daily Nation) in recent protests over high costs of living to the International Criminal Court.  

Europe

Tech investors are funding programs in Ukraine that use artificial intelligence (AI) to push the frontiers of drone warfare, the Washington Post reported. Ukraine’s military is testing drones that can still fire on targets after losing contact with their human operators.

This video by CFR’s Noah Berman and James Long explains how AI could change the world.

Russia: Lawmakers advanced a bill (Moscow Times) to raise the maximum age for military conscription from twenty-seven to thirty and ban draftees from leaving the country in an effort to widen the recruitment pool for the war in Ukraine. It needs to pass an additional congressional vote and get signed by President Vladimir Putin before it becomes law.

Americas

The independent investigators commissioned by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights said Mexico’s government had repeatedly misled them (NYT) during their investigation into the disappearance of forty-three students from a rural teachers college in 2014.

Canada: The ministers of fisheries, public procurement, and transportation said they would not run (Reuters) in Canada’s next election, signaling that they could leave their posts as part of a cabinet shuffle that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to announce this week. 

United States

A California district court ruled that an immigration policy in the Joe Biden administration that curtails migrants’ ability to seek asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border is illegal (CNN). The judge put the ruling on hold for fourteen days, and the Department of Justice said it intends to appeal. Since the policy was implemented in May, illegal crossings at the southern U.S. border have plummeted.

This Backgrounder by CFR’s Diana Roy looks at how the U.S. asylum process works.

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