On the 27th, the South Korean government announced that it would include eight North Koreans in the list of targets of unilateral sanctions against the DPRK, a move intended to counter the DPRK's launch of the Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile on the 18th. This is also the 14th time that South Korea has launched unilateral sanctions against North Korea.
In fact, after the DPRK launched its ICBM, the United States and the West have already taken a lot of measures, and the next day, the militaries of the United States, Japan, and the ROK launched a "real-time sharing system of DPRK missile warning information" to realize real-time sharing and coordinated response to the DPRK's missile launch. On the same day, the United States and South Korea also launched a joint attack on North Korea at the United Nations Security Council, and North Korea and Russia joined forces to respond, so that a fierce conflict broke out in the United Nations Security Council on the same day.
So how do you view South Korea's inclusion of the sanctions list this time? In a word, the fox is a fake tiger. South Korea is not an indispensable international partner of the United States, and North Korea is not an ordinary country, and its foreign cooperation, except for China and Russia, is almost in a state equal to zero. What is the significance of you imposing sanctions on such a country? Therefore, South Korea's move is, at most, a political or symbolic meaning to express its dissatisfaction with the DPRK.
However, such a move by South Korea is likely to lead to serious consequences. Since Yoon Suk-yeol took office as South Korean president last year, the situation on the Korean Peninsula has developed almost unrestrained toward deterioration because of Yoon Suk-yeol's pro-US views. The situation on the Korean Peninsula has continued to escalate, and in recent months, the situation has taken a new turn.
Marked by the previous visit to Russia by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, relations between Russia and the DPRK have improved significantly. Russia and North Korea have one thing in common, that is, they are both almost forced into a corner by the United States and the West, and based on this commonality, it has become a matter of course for the two countries to come together, and they can do it without scruples, anyway, the relationship with the United States and the West has deteriorated to the extreme. The proximity of Russia and North Korea has caused the situation of South Korea to deteriorate rapidly.
In the past, North Korea has dealt with repression from the United States, Japan, and South Korea almost alone, and only China has offered some help, such as cooperating with North Korea or opposing the bullying of North Korea by the United States and the West at the United Nations. However, the United States and the West have continued to exert pressure on the DPRK despite China's opposition. In this way, whether from a strategic point of view or in other aspects, North Korea is actually in a state of major disadvantage during the game with the support of the United States and the West, and apart from China, the only thing that can help North Korea deal with the United States and the West is North Korea's determination to overcome the difficulties and its nuclear arsenal. This is also the fundamental reason why South Korea dares to put pressure on North Korea unscrupulously, but after Russia and North Korea got closer, this situation was overturned.
First of all, Russia and North Korea can cooperate in many aspects, such as aerospace, food, and military industry, so North Korea can highly complement each other and reduce pressure from the United States and the West. Moreover, Russia and the DPRK are directly bordering, and no matter how close the strategic relationship between the United States, Japan, and the ROK is, it cannot be as close as that of Russia and the DPRK, which are close, so that the ROK's situation will fall into an extremely unfavorable state.
In the case of the outbreak of a fierce conflict in the UN Security Council, which we just mentioned, the US side read out a statement saying that the United States and 10 other countries condemn the DPRK.
Therefore, the current situation is that a scuffle has begun, and 10 countries have joined forces to deal with North Korea. But is that enough to bring North Korea to its knees? The answer is clearly no. In fact, North Korea can be said to have known about such a situation for a long time. 10 countries may seem like a lot, but the real key is the United States, Japan, and South Korea.
The question is, is North Korea likely to be afraid? Of course not, first of all, Kim Jong-un has already shown his nuclear option, saying that he will respond to the enemy's nuclear provocation with nuclear weapons. In addition, as we just mentioned, in fact, the real strategic advantage of the situation on the peninsula is probably the North Korean side.
It is precisely because of this awareness, and at the same time witnessing that the United States has no way to deal with Russia and North Korea at the United Nations, that South Korea chose to be the first to take action and set off sanctions against North Korea, so as to "embolden" itself, but such an act has no meaning except to provoke North Korea, and the most correct choice for South Korea at present should be to give up confrontation with North Korea, find an opportunity to repair relations, and ease relations on the peninsula.