The Karen National Union (KNU) released a report yesterday on September 2 that residents of 26 villages are fleeing due to fighting in Moan, Kyaukgyi Township, Nyaung Lay Pin District, Bago Province.
Brick village between the military council army and joint forces under the KNU. Thamanjin village, Clashes have been going on since August 19th near the village of Karen Kye and the village of Kuk Tek Nyong Pintha.
The KNU announced that the fighting was intense and the Military Council forces fired heavy weapons and carried out airstrikes.
Because of these battles, Po Thaung Su, Blind Karen Eyes wide, island U Thi Khin, Chicken The wooded harbor Zine Hill elephant sanctuary Topu wagon crossing Only the land of gold Topin banyan tree only the saffron Karen Gesawa village, Tala Lake Village Kyaukgyi side Nakhtaw Meflan, spleen Thaman Jin, Bua House, Residents of villages such as Mi Chaung Khok are fleeing.
The KNU said that 6,329 displaced residents have been initially counted and more are being counted.
As most of the local residents have fled to the jungles, it is difficult to help them due to the current military situation, a person helping war refugees in Nyaung Lai Pin District told RFA.
"On this side, when the plane arrives unexpectedly, they often hide in the forest and ravines. Since the war is tense, it is difficult to contact them in terms of assistance. In some villages, we only have contact with the village elders. We also have to go through them to provide assistance."
In addition to this, the military council army is restricting the transportation of food in Moan city, so most of the war refugees are facing food problems.
Economic Minister U Tin Oo, spokesman for the military council of Baguio Province, told RFA on August 24 that the local army is working with the local army to ensure regional stability and security in Nyaung Lai Pin District.
However, the situation of helping the war victims is not clearly stated.
During the more than two and a half years of the military takeover, there have been 1,143 battles in Nyaung Lai Pin District, which is the territory of the KNU Brigade (3), and more than 170,000 civilians have fled their homes, according to KNU statements.
Korea region : North Korea-Russia arms trade guessing game, cutting-edge 'Mig-29' in Kim Jong-un's arms?
This is the 'Encyclopedia of New Weapons on the Korean Peninsula' that seeks to find a path to peace while accurately understanding the current state of the military standoff on the Korean Peninsula. This is Kim Jin-guk, hosting the 'Encyclopedia of New Weapons on the Korean Peninsula' delivered from Washington DC, USA.
There are many suspicious aspects of the North Korea-Russia arms trade. We take a look with Lee Il-woo, Secretary General of Korea's ' Independent Defense Network ' .
Russia provides unlimited money , 2kg of flour to every North Korean resident
( Host ) The arms trade between North Korea and Russia is in full swing. A list of weapons that North Korea will supply to Russia has been compiled , but nothing has been revealed about what Russia will give in return ?
( Lee Il-woo ) Through revelations by a Russian human rights group, the list of weapons that the Russian government plans to purchase from North Korea has been made public. Most of the equipment is long-range artillery, various ammunition , artillery equipment, and old firearms . Since North Korea is selling these equipment rather than donating it, Russia has to pay North Korea for it .
What Russia can give to North Korea is refined oil and flour, which are traditional trade goods. However, in the case of refined oil, there is a limit to the amount that can be received due to limitations in North Korea's oil storage facilities , and flour is preferred in North Korea due to issues such as efficiency and preservation as food. It is not food .
Weapons are much more expensive than people think. Assuming that North Korea supplies artillery shells , 152mm high-explosive shells cost around $ 400 , 122mm high-explosive shells cost around $ 300 , and 122mm rocket rounds cost around $ 800 .
Since these shells are usually traded in tens of thousands of rounds, even assuming that North Korea sold only 10,000 rounds of each ammunition , the price would be around $ 15 million .
If North Korea were to receive this amount of wheat, it would be a huge amount to purchase 57,251 tons based on August futures prices . This is enough to supply 2 kg of flour to all North Korean residents .
North Korea has been steadily importing more than 1,000 tons of flour every month since the beginning of this year . The harvest battle is about to begin , and the North Korean authorities are using the food shortage as a means of maintaining their regime, so they use the money from selling weapons to Russia. It is unlikely that you will purchase food in bulk .
In that case, what is left are luxury goods. Recently, it has become very difficult for Russia to import luxury goods from the United States or Europe due to Western sanctions , so the items that North Korea can receive as payment for selling weapons to Russia are actually limited .
Kim Jong - un appears to have requested new fighter jet parts from Russia
( Host ) Some reports say that North Korea has demanded advanced weapons technology and repair parts for old equipment from Russia. What does North Korea want from Russia ?
( Lee Il-woo ) The fact that North Korea sold conventional weapons such as artillery shells and missiles to Russia and demanded technical support, including repair of old equipment, and supply of parts in return, was reported by the South Korean National Intelligence Service to the National Assembly Intelligence Committee on August 17 . This was confirmed while reporting .
What we need to think about in this regard is what old equipment North Korea possesses that it cannot repair on its own, and what parts are difficult to procure on its own .
North Korea has long maintained a policy of self-reliance and has domestically produced a variety of weapons. Most weapons and ammunition are produced domestically , but this has not been the case in one area : aircraft .
North Korea decided to purchase MIG-29 fighter jets from the Soviet Union in 1988 and planned to assemble and produce these fighters at the Banghyeon Aircraft Manufacturing Plant in Guseong-si, North Pyongan Province . However, with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the collapse of the Cold War system, North Korea did not receive the parts it had originally planned to import , and the introduction of the MIG-29 ended with less than 20 units .
Afterwards, the only fighter jets North Korea imported were 40 MIG-21s smuggled from Kazakhstan in 1999 , and for a long time, North Korea was unable to purchase new fighter jets and was forced into a situation where it had to virtually give up air defense operations in case of emergency . For this reason, in 2010 , Kim Jong- il asked President Hu Jintao to provide 30 JH-7 fighter -bombers , and the following year , in 2011 , right before his death, Kim Jong -il asked Russia to sell Su-35 fighter jets at a low price, but was rejected .
Most of the 500 North Korean aircraft were ‘ Latte ’ planes from the 625 era .
Currently, the North Korean Air Force possesses over 500 fighter jets, but those 500 are comprised of approximately 100 MIG-15s and MIG-17s used during the Korean War , over 100 MIG-19s from the 1950s , and MIG-1s from the 1960s . 21 There are only about 200 , about 50 MIG-23s from the 1970s and a small number of MIG-29s and Su-25s from the 1980s .
Recently, South Korean intelligence authorities believe that North Korea is converting older models below the MIG-19 into unmanned aerial vehicles like China . The MIG-21 , which is maintained with technology and parts support from China, is similar to the ROK Air Force's F-5 or FA- Even if it is left as-is because it is capable of engaging in sufficient combat with 50 missiles , there is a need to modernize or increase the number of MIG-23s and MIG-29s that China is not using . If North Korea asks Russia to repair its old equipment , it is likely that it will ask for these fighter jets , especially the MIG-29 .
Recently, North Korea unveiled unmanned aerial vehicles such as the Saebyeol-4 and Saebyeol -9 types, which can be operated only when air superiority is secured, through the Victory Day military parade . This means that North Korea is willing to modernize its air force , especially its fighter jets, and that North Korea is ready to cooperate with Russia. It is very likely that he was asking for fighter jets or fighter jet parts .
Will a large-scale Mig -29 (4.5 generation ) be handed over to North Korea ?
( Host ) Is there a possibility that the fighter jets themselves will be supported beyond supplying parts for old equipment?
( Lee Il-woo ) In mid- August , Military Watch Magazine and some Eastern European media reported that Russia was likely to supply MIG-29s to North Korea . However, if we analyze this article by comparing it to the current situation of the Russian Aerospace Force, we conclude that this is highly probable .
The Russian Aerospace Forces, which are showing the worst utilization rate during the recent war in Ukraine, have been experiencing chronic parts shortages since the collapse of the Soviet Union. During the Soviet Union, various types of fighters and attack aircraft were manufactured depending on the mission and operated like an octopus , but with the collapse of the economy, this became impossible , so over the past 30 years, efforts have been made to simplify the fighter force .
The Russian Aerospace Forces include approximately 350 airborne fighters Su-27 , 110 multipurpose fighter-bombers Su-30 , 110 multipurpose fighter Su-35s , 150 long-range attack aircraft Su-34 , 130 long -range interceptors MIG-31 , and 240 multipurpose fighters MIG-29. There are about 1,100 fighter jets, including the 1980s and a small number of Su-57 stealth fighters .
What should be noted is the commonality of the remaining aircraft except for the MIG-29 and MIG-31 . The Su-30 is an improved version of the single- seat Su-27, which increases the number of seats to two and allows for multi-purpose use , and the Su-35 A major modernization and improvement of the Su-27 , the Su-34 is a specialized attack aircraft with a redesigned fuselage of the Su-27 . Because they all use the same series of engines and have high parts commonality, they are currently used as the Russian military's main fighter aircraft .
However, in the case of the MIG-29, only about 70 of the approximately 240 aircraft are in actual operation . First of all, this fighter is smaller than the Su-27 series fighter , has a shorter range , and is less armed . The engine and major parts are not compatible with other fighter jets , and the engine lifespan is short, so it costs a lot of money to maintain, making it a scum of the Russian military .
In this Ukraine war, the Russian military has never put the MIG-29 into combat , not only because there are not many aircraft in operation , but also because they do not trust the model . The Russian military's distrust of the MIG-29 has continued since the Soviet era . Immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia continued to produce and use the Su-27 and Su-30 series as its mainstay , but canceled orders for the MIG-29 and replaced the fighter jets in production. and parts were left as is .
As for how many MIG-29s were left abandoned in Russia , in January 2021 , members of a Russian military fraternity secretly entered the Nizhny Novgorod Sokol aircraft manufacturing plant near the Volga River, about 360 km east of Moscow . . This factory was the final assembly plant that produced the MIG-29 before the collapse of the Soviet Union . After the collapse of the Soviet Union, it was abandoned and left with access to outsiders restricted for 30 years . Inside the factory, fighter jets that were being assembled and enough parts to make dozens of MIG-29s were left abandoned .
Since North Korea has installed a MIG-29 assembly facility at Banghyeon Aircraft Factory , it can manufacture additional MIG-29s as long as it receives parts from Russia . From Russia's perspective, it is good because it can solve the Air Force's malicious inventory of MIG-29s , and if it buys North Korean weapons using parts from abandoned facilities, it is essentially getting the weapons for free .
Currently, Russian aircraft production companies have been integrated into subsidiaries of a state-owned company called Unified Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation (UAC) . Among them , Mikoyan Grevich, which manufactures the MIG-29 , has no export performance, unlike Sukhoi, and is treated like a parasite of UAC . It would be a profitable business for Russia if exports to North Korea were used as an opportunity to clear out accumulated inventories and import immediately needed war weapons from Ukraine .
The lesson from Kim Il-sung’s time, “ Let’s not be fooled by the Soviet Union, ” may be repeated.
( Host ) It is said that North Korea may introduce a new fighter jet, but such a movement has also been detected within North Korea ?
( Lee Il-woo ) All projects require resources, and North Korea, which is always short on resources, must use those resources effectively . So, if North Korea is doing something, there must be a reason .
Suncheon Airfield near Pyongyang, a key base for the 55th and 57th Aviation Regiments that operate MIG-29s in North Korea, completed large-scale base modernization work by the fall of last year . The runway was extended by 300m , creating a 2,800m runway that can accommodate takeoff and landing of 30- ton large fighter jets , and a new taxiway and underground tunnel facilities were also installed . This means that North Korea is preparing to operate heavier aircraft with heavier armament from this base .
The new air-to-air missiles that appeared at the recent Armed Equipment Exhibition commemorating Victory Day and the 2021 Arms Exhibition are also strong evidence that North Korea is pursuing the modernization of its fighter jet forces . Two types of missiles have appeared , one type is very similar to the new short-range air-to-air missile IRIS-T , which is also installed on Korea's KF-21 , and the other type is similar in size and shape to the PL-11 series, the Chinese military's current main air-to-air missile. This is very similar .
An air-to-air missile is not just a missile, but a fire control computer processes the target information acquired by the radar , and transmits this data to the missile's guidance device to perform 'lock-on' , that is, a missile that is launched and guided after the aiming process. It's a complex weapon . The fact that North Korea has created a new air-to-air missile means that it has prepared a new radar, fire control computer , and all support facilities and platforms to operate this missile .
South Korea's National Intelligence Service said that North Korea requested Russia to repair old equipment and provide technical support. It is highly likely that North Korea is already working on extending the lifespan and partial modernization of the MIG-29 with support from China and Russia , which is very dangerous for South Korea. It's a signal .
The South Korean government must closely track the movement of fighter jet trade between North Korea and Russia and block this dangerous arms trade by sending a strong warning message that if Russia supplies fighter jets to North Korea , South Korea may also provide lethal weapons to Ukraine. It will be . In fact, this is entirely possible, as there are cases where Russia received only weapons and did not provide the fighter jets it was supposed to give in exchange for goods .
North Korea : Preparations for the September 9 military parade at Kim Il-sung Square and Mirim Airfield are in full swing.
On the 9th , North Korea was seen preparing for a military parade ahead of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the regime . Reporter Jaewoo Park reports .
Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, captured in a satellite photo by Planet Labs, an American commercial satellite, on the 31st of last month .
Unidentifiable red objects were spotted throughout the square. It is a sight that was not seen in the satellite image taken three weeks ago, on the 9th of last month, and is presumed to be a facility related to military parade preparations .
On the same day, satellite photos showed a large number of vehicles and troops gathered at the military parade training ground above Mirim Airfield and the horse riding range in Sadong District, Pyongyang.
At least 10 large-scale matrices were observed moving in rows and columns , and there were also more than 30 small-scale matrices of 1 to 2 lines .
Troops have been seen gathering at the military parade training ground since early last month.
Preparations are being revealed one after another for North Korea to hold another large-scale military parade ahead of the 75th anniversary of the regime's establishment on the 9th .
Jacob Bogle, an American private satellite analyst, told RFA on the 1st , “The day of regime establishment is approaching , and North Korea regularly holds large-scale commemorative events for this day.” He added, “The images shown in the satellite photos are such. “It appears to be a crowd gathered while practicing for commemorative events,” he explained .
In fact, a resident source in North Hamgyong Province also told RFA on August 14 , “ University students who will participate in the September 9 military parade departed for Pyongyang today,” and added, “ They had been training intensively at Pohang Square in Chongjin City since early August and then left for comprehensive training. ” It has been said before .
On August 9, the North Korean authorities also announced that they would “hold a civilian military parade next month to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the regime . ”
Accordingly, it is known that the central government issued selection criteria for participants to provincial party committees across the country and ordered intensive training by mobilizing university students and civilians .
When North Korea holds a military parade on the 9th , it will be the third this year, following the 75th anniversary of Army Foundation Day in February and the 70th anniversary of Victory Day on July 27th .
Bruce Bechtol, a professor at Angelo State University and a former member of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), told RFA on the 1st, " It is unusual for a military parade to be held three times a year ," and said it was intended to counter the strengthening cooperation between Korea, the United States and Japan .
Professor Bechtol : This is due to the fact that the recent trilateral summit between Korea , the United States and Japan was held at Camp David , and they are now conducting ballistic missile defense exercises together . Our alliance is in a stronger position than ever . So, Kim Jong-un may be trying to show a bravado to counter this during the military parade .
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