If you want to receive our articles from T Verifica or send us topics about which you have doubts so that we can verify them, contact us via WhatsApp
by clicking on this link
.
Several readers have alerted us via WhatsApp to a video circulating on the TikTok social network, which suggests that North Korea has allied itself with Russia and has deployed its army, in a clear reference to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The video has been viewed thousands of times since it was uploaded to TikTok on February 24, the same day Russia invaded Ukraine, and contains text that reads: "Look who just joined Russia, global alert."
In the footage, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un can be seen waving from a podium and hundreds of soldiers and dozens of missile-equipped military trucks marching past a sea of people.
[T Check: We debunk 7 falsehoods that have been told about the war in Ukraine]
But, although the images are authentic,
the message of the video is misleading.
North Korea
has not joined the Russian invasion of Ukraine
nor has it deployed military forces to that end.
The images that appear in the video were recorded more than a year ago and correspond to a military parade in Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.
The original video was published on January 15, 2021 by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the country's propaganda office.
On the left, an image from the misleading video suggesting an alleged North Korean military alliance with Russia.
On the right, the original video of a military parade, published in January 2021 by the North Korean state propaganda agency.TikTok/KCNA
In the official video, images of military trucks and soldiers can be seen marching in front of a balcony from where Kim Jong Un salutes, dressed in a black jacket and hat, and accompanied by several North Korean officers.
What is certain is that North Korea has expressed verbal support for Russia since its forces entered Ukrainian territory.
In February, the country blamed the crisis in Ukraine on "hegemonic politics" and the "arrogance" of the United States and the West.
[It is true, the International Criminal Court will open an office in Venezuela]
North Korea was one of the five countries that voted against a UN resolution demanding that Russia end its invasion of Ukraine, a position that reaffirms Pyongyang's hostility towards Western countries and that, according to several experts cited by the Seoul-based daily NK News is also seeking Vladimir Putin's support for the UN to ease sanctions against the Jong Un regime.
Although Russian support has already been given before.
In January, Russia and China blocked a US attempt at the UN to impose sanctions on five North Koreans in response to recent missile launches by Pyongyang.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un salutes during the military parade in Pyongyang on January 14, 2021. The image was provided by the North Korean state agency KCNA.REUTERS
In March, North Korea launched what appeared to be a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that flew much further than the last one it had tested in 2017. The launch marked the end of a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and missile tests. that Kim Jong-un announced in 2018, before starting diplomatic talks with then-President Donald J. Trump, which ultimately failed.
But the ballistic tests also have nothing to do with an alleged military alliance between North Korea and Russia.
According to experts, with his provocations, Kim Jong-un seeks to draw attention, especially from the United States, to the stalled negotiations and international sanctions against him, at a time when it seems unlikely that the international community, whose attention is focused on Ukraine, reply with more sanctions on North Korea for launching missiles.
[Noticias Telemundo launches data verification service on WhatsApp]
Although the strategy is unlikely to work, experts say.
"Even if Pyongyang does not bear the costs of sanctions, it is currently not gaining much, if anything, from the international community," Edward Howell, a professor of politics at New College University, explained in a recent article. from Oxford.
South Korea and Japan denounce a new missile launch from North Korea
Feb. 27, 202200:21
However, other experts fear that the absence of new sanctions over the missile tests and the Russian invasion of Ukraine will empower North Korea, also with nuclear power, to carry out an attack against its neighbor, South Korea.
“The longer-term and more consequential impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine lies in whether Russia's attempt to erase an international border could serve as a precedent for North Korea, which harbors its own revisionist aspirations regarding the removal of the armistice line dividing the Korean Peninsula,” Scott Sneyder, Director of the US-Korea Policy Program at the Council on Foreign Relations, a New York-based nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, explained in a recent article.
