The Cyber Defense eMagazine November Edition for 2023

North Korea–Russia Summit
A new alliance in cyberspace?
By Stan Vitek, Resident Geopolitical Analyst, Cyfirma
Introduction
Last month, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un took a rare trip beyond his country’s borders – in fact his
first since 2020 – via a heavily armored train to Russia, where he met with Russian president Vladimir
Putin. The visit stoked fears that there could be increased weapons and technology transfers between
the two nations hostile to the West and its partners in Asia, that North Korea could provide Russia with
badly needed munitions for its war in Ukraine while Russia could share sensitive nuclear or missile
technologies and cyber knowhow with the hermit kingdom. By the same time, the North Korean military
unveiled a nuclear-capable submarine and North Korean state media said the country aims to equip all
its existing medium-sized diesel submarines with nuclear attack capability and develop nuclear-powered
submarines in the future. Pyongyang is working to develop a robust nuclear triad: land-launched
stationary and mobile missiles, submarine-launched missiles, and aircraft-launched missiles, although
this last vector remains relatively underdeveloped. This is where the news comes full circle, as such
development would be very difficult without external expertise. And finally, this week a study on digital
threats from East Asia revealed that North Korean cyber operations have increased in sophistication over
the past year and stated that Pyongyang’s threat actors seem particularly interested in stealing
information related to maritime technology research. After years of mistrust, both Russia and North Korea
seem to have something that the other wants and needs. But let us start with a very brief recap.
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