WORLD BRIEFING: June 20, 2024

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a comprehensive strategic partnership on June 19 during the Russian president's first visit in 24 years to the secretive one-party state. The agreement calls for mutual assistance in the event of an attack by a third country and is intended to take cooperation between the two states to a new level. Kim said the agreement ushers in a new era, adding that their cooperation on political, military, economic, and other issues is peaceful and aimed at defending the interests of both states. "I have no doubt that it will become a driving force in the accelerated development of a new multipolar world," Kim said. A senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said after the agreement was signed that North Korea was helping Russia kill Ukrainian civilians. "There is no doubt that North Korea is actively cooperating with Russia in the military sphere today and deliberately provides resources for the mass murder of Ukrainians," Mykhaylo Podolyak told the AFP new agency. He called for greater international isolation of both countries. Putin has expressed gratitude for Pyongyang's "unwavering support" at the start of a summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un that began with a red-carpet welcome on June 19 as the two fiercely anti-Western leaders sought ways to boost cooperation. - RFE/RL

North Korea is a paradise that so far surpasses the rest of the world in “freedom” that even the air feels different, according to one of the Kremlin’s most devoted propagandists. Pavel Zarubin, a Kremlin pool reporter who accompanied Vladimir Putin on the Russian leader’s first visit to Pyongyang in more than two decades, can barely contain his excitement in a video clip that is hard to believe is not a parody. “I don’t know any other country where people can breathe so freely,” Zarubin declares, as crowds of North Koreans perform a choreographed dance in the background, part of the grandiose ceremony organized to welcome Putin. - Daily Beast

Israel's defence forces said on Tuesday it had approved operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon as Israel and Hezbollah stepped up rhetoric that could escalate into a war. - Reuters

Cyril Ramaphosa was inaugurated Wednesday for his second term as South Africa's president, though analysts said he could face a tough road ahead in keeping his new coalition government together. Ramaphosa took the oath of office at a colorful ceremony in Pretoria, attended by African royalty, heads of state, and diplomats. He won a vote in parliament last week to lead the country for a second term. But the second term begins under starkly different circumstances than the first. Ramaphosa’s African National Congress party lost its parliamentary majority in the May elections for the first time since the end of apartheid thirty years ago. The ANC then engaged in talks with political opponents to form a coalition government that it is calling a government of national unity. Ramaphosa referenced that in his inaugural speech. - VOA

The White House canceled a high-level U.S.-Israel meeting on Iran that was scheduled for Thursday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video on Tuesday claiming the U.S. was withholding military aid, two U.S. officials tell Axios. President Biden's top advisers were enraged by the video — a message U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein delivered personally to Netanyahu in a meeting hours after it was published, two U.S. and Israeli sources say. Then the White House decided to go a step farther by canceling Thursday's meeting. "This decision makes it clear that there are consequences for pulling such stunts," a U.S. official said. “The Americans are fuming. Bibi's video made a lot of damage," a senior Israeli official said, using a nickname for Netanyahu. Some Israeli officials were already en route to Washington when the meeting was cancelled. Two U.S. officials told Axios the meeting was canceled to send a message about the video. A third claimed the meeting was postponed rather than canceled, due to a scheduling issue. Speaking in English, Netanyahu declared in the video that it was "inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel." In public, the White House expressed bafflement. Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre noted that only one weapons shipment had been paused since the war began, while billions of dollars of weapons had flowed unimpeded. "We genuinely do not know what he is talking about," she said. In private, Biden's team was angry and shocked by Netanyahu's ingratitude, according to one U.S. official. Hochstein was already scheduled to meet with Netanyahu on Tuesday during a stop in Israel on the way back from Beirut, where he was trying to de-escalate the situation on the Israel-Lebanon border. Once in the room, he told Netanyahu the accusations in the video were both inaccurate and out of line, two Israeli officials briefed on the meeting tell Axios.

The Philippine military said the Chinese coast guard rammed and boarded Filipino navy boats in a violent confrontation in the South China Sea this week in which a Filipino sailor lost a thumb. Monday’s incident was the latest in a series of escalating confrontations between Chinese and Philippine ships in recent months as Beijing steps up efforts to push its claims to the disputed area. Filipino military chief General Romeo Brawner alleged the Chinese boarders were armed with swords, spears, and knives in the incident off Second Thomas Shoal. He denounced the Chinese action as “piracy” and demanded the return of seized weapons and other equipment, as well as reparations for damaged items. China defended its actions, with its foreign ministry saying on Wednesday that “no direct measures” were taken against Filipino personnel. Images from China’s Coast Guard shared by state media purported to show the confrontation on Monday, declaring: “The Chinese coast guard carried out boarding and inspection of a Philippine boat for the first time”. Photos showed two Chinese vessels approaching what it said was a smaller Philippine vessel from either side while another Chinese boat tailed closely behind. - HKFP