• AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    5 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    The head of an elite North Korean military delegation that was deployed to Russia last week has been found dead in Moscow, according to local reports.

    Newsweek couldn’t independently verify the reports and has contacted Russia’s Foreign Ministry for comment by email.

    Kim and his delegation departed from Pyongyang on July 8, the news agency Yonhap said, on the first public visit by North Korean officials to Russia since Pyongyang and Moscow signed a new strategic partnership agreement in June.

    According to SHOT, as a heat wave swept Russia, Kim, 64, went to the Bolshoy Gorodskoy Pond in Moscow for a swim to cool off, and “disappeared.”

    North Korea and Russia have deepened their ties since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine in February 2022.

    Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency said in June that Article 4 of the new agreement reached between Russia and North Korea during Putin’s historic visit requires either party to deploy “all means at its disposal without delay” to provide “military and other assistance” should one nation be attacked.


    The original article contains 427 words, the summary contains 179 words. Saved 58%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    That sounds awkward.

    Did they run out of windows? Or did the window overlook the pond?

      • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        I don’t know that I buy ‘just an accident’.

        I’m not stupid enough to think that it was necessarily Russia, though. But seriously, how many people die randomly swimming. Particularly when they probably have some security standing on their every move?

        • jj4211@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          A lot of people die randomly swimming. Just last week someone drowned in the river near me, and a few months back, there was a drowning in a lake. Both involved alcohol.

          I just don’t see why drown the NK envoy.

          • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            My present speculation, if it wasn’t an accident, was that he was trying to defect/escape NK.

            Russia isn’t the only place to use political executions.

            Alternatively, it could have been a western state- Ukraine features high (if they have the capability?) specifically to impose some strain on relations.

            We’ll prolly never know what really happened.

          • alcoholicorn@lemmy.ml
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            5 months ago

            I mean yes random people drown a lot, but it’s also how the CIA (allegedly) assassinated the PM of Australia during the 60s, after he was insufficiently supportive of the Vietnam War.

        • gnutrino@programming.dev
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          5 months ago

          It’s quite possible that he had taken the opportunity of being in a country with easier access to alcohol and drugs to go on a bender and ended up drowned. Remember Yeltsin standing outside the white house in his underwear pissed out of his gourd trying to hail a taxi to get pizza?

        • systemglitch@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          Ask yourself how many North Koreans learn to swim well. This might be something he didn’t get a lot of experience with before leaving his homeland.

          • jaybone@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            Ask yourself how many North Koreans learn to swim well.

            The ones who don’t live there anymore?

          • FelixCress@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            Are you saying Asians can’t swim or something? I don’t know what is you mean.

            • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
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              5 months ago

              Historically, yes. Very few cultures are known for having a large populations of swimmers in the past, even the average Japanese civillian before the 20th century probably never learned to swim despite living on a chain of islands.

            • Deceptichum@quokk.au
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              5 months ago

              Swimming is often a recreational activity, North Koreans aren’t well known for their luxuries such as recreation.

              I suspect in school they learnt how to worship eternal ruler and his family instead of swimming lessons as well.

              So not too many opportunities for a nork to swim.

              • upto60percentoff@kbin.run
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                5 months ago

                I imagine somebody well connected enough to be an envoy doesn’t share in the living conditions of the average citizen

              • FelixCress@lemmy.world
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                5 months ago

                I don’t know much about North Korea geography (rivers, lakes) but where I am originally from, swimming was something boys learned when playing as children. It didn’t cost anything, you were just using local lake. So this assertion is bullshit, unless this is a cultural thing about North Korea.

                • Nythos@sh.itjust.works
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                  5 months ago

                  This is North Korea you’re talking about.

                  Your anecdotal evidence is irrelevant when talking about NK.

            • systemglitch@lemmy.world
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              5 months ago

              Do you know anything about North Korea? Stop trying to find racism in every comment.

              I’m getting married to a person born in China and have been enveloped in Asian culture a lot more than most people in Western culture ever will. Trying to paint things with such a broad stroke shows your ignorance about regional issues and the utter smothering existence living under the North Korean regime is.

              A group of people oppressed to such a degree does not leave much time for simple pleasures like learning to fucking swim and enjoying life.

              But yeah sure, let’s be ignorant as fuck… all Asians… yeah that’s clearly what I meant.

              I may have woken up on the wrong side of the bed. If I took your comment out of context and you were not implying racism, but were simply confused, then I do humbly apologize for this rant.

              • FelixCress@lemmy.world
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                5 months ago

                No, I was not implying racism. Yes, you overreacted big time. Ability to swim is not necessarily related to the wealth of the population. In multiple countries it is lakes and rivers used for swimming so no, I genuinely had no idea what you meant 🙄

                • systemglitch@lemmy.world
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                  5 months ago

                  Lol okay, sorry about that. It feels like people are always to trap everyone else into a racism corner on the internet these days.

      • derpgon@programming.dev
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        5 months ago

        Probably wanted that guy gone anyway. Why waste space on a plane for someone who can eat all your delicious dirt definitely edible food.

  • voldage@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    WW3 between… Russia and North Korea, with… uhh… allies? It’s weird because both China and USA would want to get involved, but neither would know on which side. Imagine USA allying with China to help North Korea fight Russia by mistake. That would be embarrassing.

    • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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      5 months ago

      Once the Russians started using the ammunition sent by North Korea, they encountered unforeseen problems.

      Oh no I’m fatally sure that pretty much everyone foresaw these problems.