The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | December 22nd, 2023: Russia Deepens Ties With North Korea & A Message Of Forgiveness Amid Tragedy

Episode Date: December 22, 2023

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:     Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian general staff, revealed at a briefing on Thursday that Russia has established “comprehensive” defense cooperation with the North Korean regime, in the latest sign the belligerent powers are aligning their interests. As we head into the Christmas holiday, we bring you a message of forgiveness from the mother of a hostage accidentally killed by members of the IDF. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin.     Email: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. We begin with Russia and North Korea, who have established what Russia calls comprehensive defense cooperation, an ominous sign that the two regimes are deepening their ties as tensions rise on the Korean Peninsula. Also, as we head into the Christmas holidays, I wanted to do that. to bring you a message of forgiveness from the mother of a hostage accidentally killed by members of the IDF. But first, our afternoon spotlight. The blossoming bromance between Russian dictator

Vladimir Putin and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un continues to strengthen as the two nations forge deeper military ties. Valerie Grasimov, chief of the Russian general staff, revealed at a briefing on Thursday, that Russia has established comprehensive defense cooperation with the North Korean regime and the latest sign that the belligerent powers are aligning their interests. Gerasimov also reaffirmed Russia's strategic ties with India and China during the briefing. He did not elaborate on what Russia's defensive partnership with the DPRK entailed, but noted that the military cooperation was active. Now, as Russia contends with increasing international isolation since their invasion of Ukraine, Putin has made a point of cultivating

his relationships with like-minded foreign leaders in the regimes of China, Iran, and North Korea. It's like Putin has named himself the leader of the Evil League of Evil from Dr. Horrible's sing-along blog ends recruiting new members. North Korea, in particular, has become an increasingly important member of Putin's villains club. He's become reliant on Kim Jong-un for munitions and missiles for his war in Ukraine. Throughout the past year, the relationship was revitalized through a series of high-level meetings and renewed economic cooperation, not to mention the exchange of friendship bracelets. Russian defense minister Sergei Shoyu visited North Korea in July, where Kim Jong-un gave him a personal tour of the DPRK's ballistic missile arsenal. The visit marked the first

time a Russian defense minister had gone to the country since the early nine. In September, Putin and Kim met face-to-face in Russia at a summit that sparked international alarm and fears of a possible arms deal between the two powers. And those fears proved justified, as intelligence reports emerged in November that Russia was providing North Korea with technical assistance for their ballistic missile program in exchange for missiles and munitions. It's worth noting that the DPRK is banned under several UN resolutions, including ones endorsed by Russia from using ICBMs. And like many UN resolutions on a variety of concerns, these have been ignored.

In late November, North Korea successfully launched their first spy satellite into orbit aboard an ICBM, prompting international condemnation. They've since ratcheted uptensions on the Korean Peninsula, launching two ICBMs earlier this week over the Pacific Ocean in a provocative display. Kim then lashed out at the U.S. in South Korea, calling the nation's military gangsters and accusing the U.S. of engaging in a preview of a nuclear war. At an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday to address the ICBM launches, Russia, here's a shock, came to the defense of the North Korean regime and chided the U.S. for increasing its military presence in South Korea.

Russian officials claim the military movements look more and more like preparations for an offensive operation. The Russian officials added that, hey, if anybody knows what offensive operations look like, it's us Russians. Okay, sorry, that's a fake quote there. All right, coming up after the break, as we head into Christmas, a message of forgiveness from the mother of a hostage accidentally killed by members of the Israeli Defense Forces, the IDFs. I'll be right back. Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin.

We discussed the tragic news on Monday that Israeli soldiers shot and killed three Israeli hostages in northern Gaza after mistaking them for a threat. The three men were kidnapped from collective farms on October 7th by Hamas. The incident occurred in the Shajaya neighborhood of Gaza City, an area of intense fighting where Hamas militants have reportedly been disguising themselves as civilians to lure IDF soldiers into traps. The IDF immediately acknowledged that the soldier's actions were in breach of the rules of engagement and launched an investigation into the circumstances of the incident promising full transparency. While the tragic incident sparked outrage within Israel and abroad, the mother of one of the victims, Yotam Haim, is displaying a strength and resilience

that is, frankly, for lack of a better word, humbling. Despite her devastation at her son's debt, Iris Haim reached out to the IDF Battalion and offered words of forgiveness and thanks. I wanted to just take a moment to read the words of Ms. Hayam, whose resolve in the face of tragedy is an example we can all learn from

during this holiday season. The letter reads, quote, Hello to the Bislaq Brigade, Battalion 17, this is Iris Chaim. I'm Yotam's mother. I wanted to tell you that I love you very much and I embrace you from afar. I know that everything that happened is completely not your fault. It's nobody's fault except the Hamas. May their name and memory be wiped off the face of the earth. She continued, we invite you to come visit us at the earliest opportunity, whoever is willing. We want to see you with our own eyes and embrace you and tell you what you have done as painful as it is to say and as sad as

it is was likely the right thing to do at that moment, and none of us are judging you or angry with you. Not me, not my husband Raviv, not my daughter, Noya, not Yotam of blessed memory, and not Tuval, Yotam's brother. We love you very much, and that's that. End quote. Well, that is about as pure an example of forgiveness as you can find in today's world. And as we make our way into the new year, let's hope that we can find some of the same. resolution and peace for all the conflicts around the globe. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Friday, 22 December. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdb at thefirsttv.com.

I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back on Monday. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.