Skip to content
Fronts.co
AccountJoin Insider
Fronts.co
WarFrontsSponsor-free

North Korea's Navy is Getting Dangerous. And More.

Simon Whistler · June 30, 2025 · 39 min video · Global

Duration 38:55
Watch sponsor-free with InsiderWatch with sponsors on YouTube

Already an Insider? Sign in and it plays here.

Also on YouTube. WarFronts published this video on its YouTube channel on June 30, 2025. Here it is with the sponsor segment cut out. Insiders watch all 878 WarFronts and HomeFronts videos this way.

From the transcript

Welcome back to the Situation Room, the weekly show where, rather than fiddle as Rome, burns we instead despairingly narrate as flames slowly consume us all.

Now this week there are bushfires in Kenya, where Nairobi's weapons have embarrassingly turned up in the hands of genocidal paramilitaries, and there's smoke on the water for Taiwan as China experiments with ways to isolate the island. Finally, let's check in on Belarus, where the regime is making a subtle overt ures to the West.

But first, we're taking a trip to North Korea, where Kim Jong Un's rapidly modernising navy may pose a burning threat to us all. As always, timestamps below if you want to skip their heads, and just a quick piece of housekeeping, that with our regular writers Evan and Morris currently exhausted from covering Iran all week, it's been a big one!

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

No sponsor reads, on every episode

This video is free on YouTube with a sponsor segment. Insiders get the clean cut of every WarFronts and HomeFronts video, plus 128 exclusives that are only on Fronts.

Join Insider, $5 a monthSee what's included

About this briefing

Love content? Check out Simon's other YouTube Channels: Megaprojects:https://www.youtube.com/@megaprojects9649 SideProjects: https://www.youtube.com/@Sideprojects Into The Shadows: https://www.youtube.com/@IntotheShadows Today I Found Out: https://www.youtube.com/@TodayIFoundOut Brain Blaze: https://www.youtube.com/@brainblaze6526 Casual Criminalist: https://www.youtube.com/@TheCasualCriminalist Decoding the Unknown: https://www.youtube.com/@decodingtheunknown2373 Places: https://www.youtube.com/@Places302 Celestium: https://www.youtube.com/@astrographics-ve4yq PoliticalFronts: http://www.youtube.com/@homefronts 00:00 Introduction 00:57 North Korea's Navy is Getting Dangerous 11:36 China is Testing the Waters in the Taiwan Strait 20:49 Kenyan Weapons In Sudan 30:37 Sergei Tikhanovsky Released from Belarusian Prison (References) North Korea: https://beyondparallel.csis.org/north-korea-launches-the-choe-hyon-guided-missile-destroyer/ https://www.wsj.com/world/asia/kim-jong-un-claims-his-capsized-warship-is-fixed-cde2b721?mod=world_feat2_asia_pos2 https://www.wsj.com/world/asia/why-kim-jong-un-cant-accept-failure-with-his-warships-d7388d39?mod=article_inline https://www.wsj.com/world/asia/kim-jong-uns-new-warship-capsizes-at-launch-due-to-absolute-carelessness-ef8024c1?mod=article_inline https://www.wsj.com/articles/north-korea-shows-off-advanced-new-submarine-11563879133?mod=article_inline https://defensetalks.com/north-koreas-naval-modernization-russian-support/ https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2025/04/30/strategic_implications_of_north_koreas_expanding_naval_ambitions_1107120.html https://www.heritage.org/missile-defense/commentary/north-koreas-submarine-launched-ballistic-missiles-slbms-deserve-our https://www.csis.org/analysis/north-korea-announces-nuclear-powered-submarine-development https://www.nknews.org/2025/03/north-korea-releases-first-photos-of-new-nuclear-powered-missile-submarine/ https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/north-korea-launches-new-tactical-nuclear-attack-submarine-kcna-2023-09-07/ https://defensetalks.com/north-koreas-naval-modernization-russian-support/ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14268921/The-meat-grinder-strategy-North-Korean-troops-sent-boost-Russian-forces-used-human-detectors-Ukrainian-fields.html https://armyrecognition.com/news/navy-news/2024/north-korea-joins-russian-naval-exercises-as-observer-for-the-first-time https://www.wsj.com/world/vladimir-putin-north-korea-visit-kim-jong-un-171a10d7?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=ASWzDAgeJ_ZBI4yK-L4iIR_-rU3Lm24cybZ0Nh9dAp5mjdHFnrxv0idxebiH8n6SWuw%3D&gaa_ts=685c929b&gaa_sig=Zcg3RGLz9lDeXEX6jTwvohFW3d6l4tzoA0eT-lCAMGmkA5gSV5L6ft8psNE-LF_tK-3gFOH-AV510RmZGEBLvQ%3D%3D https://www.businessinsider.com/north-korea-new-warship-choe-hyon-aided-russia-tech-concern-2025-4 https://www.forbes.com/sites/sebastienroblin/2025/05/31/russia-gave-north-korea-its--pantsir-air-defense-truck/ Taiwan: Auralian Broadcasting Corporation - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-17/is-china-cutting-taiwan-internet-cables-as-psychological-warfare/105281582 Taiwan Insight - https://taiwaninsight.org/2024/10/02/the-most-critical-resilience-questions-of-them-all-taiwans-undersea-cables/ Politico - https://www.politico.eu/article/taiwan-china-undersea-cables-attack-international-telecom-cargo-ship-eu-russia/ Light Reading - https://www.lightreading.com/security/taiwan-seeks-korean-help-after-latest-suspicious-cable-cut TWZ - https://www.twz.com/news-features/taiwan-coast-guard-blames-chinese-owned-ship-for-cutting-undersea-communications-cable UK Parliament - https://committees.parliament.uk/work/7937/defence-in-the-grey-zone/#:~:text=In%20November%202024%20the%20re,ability%20to%20work%20cross%2Ddepartmentally. GOV.UK - https://stratcommand.blog.gov.uk/2021/04/26/getting-to-grips-with-grey-zone-conflict/ China Strategic Risks Institute - https://www.csri.global/research/testing-the-waters France 24 - https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250114-nato-baltic-leaders-set-to-boost-security-after-cable-sabotage BBC News - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy3zy9jvd4o Just Security - https://www.justsecurity.org/113221/chinas-shadow-fleet-war-on-taiwans-undersea-cables/ UK Parliament - https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/seabed-warfare-protecting-the-uks-undersea-infrastructure/

More like this

Go deeper than the YouTube video