NORTH KOREA - Criticizes Nuclear Submarine Deal
North Korean state media criticized the United States for a nuclear submarine deal with Australia under the AUKUS partnership signed in 2021, calling it a “threat to regional peace.”
Australia just made its first $500 million payment to the U.S. under the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal.
Under AUKUS, Australia will pay the United States $3 billion to boost the capacity of the U.S. submarine industry, and Washington will sell several Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines to Australia in the early 2030s.
North Korea has been criticizing the trilateral military cooperation between South Korea, Japan and the U.S. and has called the relationship “the Asian version of NATO.”
-www.reuters.com, 20 February 2025
Arno's Commentary
While North Korea is considered the most isolated state in the world, Wikipedia notes that “North Korea has diplomatic relations with 160 states.”
The Global Democracy Index for 2019 ranks the top five counties and their extended diplomatic relationships: 1. China 276; 2. USA 273; 3. France 267; 4. Japan 247; 5. Russia 242. These numbers include diplomatic missions as published by the Lowy Institute based in Sydney, Australia.
While North Korea is considered a poor country, it has a significant military structure and is one of the seven known nuclear powers.
Statistics reveal that 98% of North Korea’s imports come from China, and 53% of exports go there. The next two largest export partners are Senegal at 11% and Nigeria at 6%.
North Korea’s saber-rattling has caused alarm, particularly in Southeast Asia. Yet, North Korea is unable to feed its own people. Food imports are considerable, which is not surprising, since North Korea uses 20–30% of its GDP for military expenditure (according to estimates).
In contrast, South Korea, with 52 million people, has one of the longest life expectancies at 83.4 years (2024). Their GDP per capita is $50,600 (2023).
Of interest is that, under religion, Protestants lead at 17%, then Buddhists at 16%, Catholics at 6%, and none at 60%.
Yet in both of those states, the Church—very visible in South Korea, hidden in North Korea—will fulfill its purpose as called by the Lord.
Let’s pray for both Koreas, particularly for the Church in the North.
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
