Colin Zwirko

North Korea held another weapons expo! Some new developments:
-Hwasong-11E (화성-11마) is a new SRBM with HGV?
-still showing large SLBM never tested. blue checkered UUV behind
-new unmanned surface vessel? likely to be in the oct10 parade
-green paint scheme drone on left

Ended up being that North Korea photoshopped this replica Blue House out of multiple photos
www.nknews.org/pro/north-ko...

KJU at "training base No. 38" watching some sniper drills reportedly on Sept 12. I recognize that too-well-manicured hill. and those mountains. this is the 'Jindallae Guesthouse' missile test area where there's a ton of new construction going on, detailed here: www.nknews.org/pro/major-co...

First image today clearly showing full-scale military parade practice at North Korea's Mirim complex, though we've seen signs of this for months already. Looking like Oct. 10 for the parade. Read more here: www.nknews.org/pro/thousand...

This is absolutely new, hanging a Kim Jong Un portrait at an event. He's gradually centering his own cult of personality, making Kim Il Sung/Kim Jong Il mere distant past figures. First paintings/murals of himself, then his portrait at only the party cadre school, then badges only for WPK CC members

Moving all families of dead soldiers into one place means 1) authorities will watch them and make sure they never publicly or privately complain about the war, and 2) that they will be surrounded by the tragedy, never able to move on from their loved ones dying in a secret war across the world

This part doesn't read well. I get he's saying 'I'm doing you a favor,' North Koreans do covet the benefits of the Hero of the Republic medal, but sounds more like 'nobody gave me permission but I'm taking your children, better thank me.' Makes it all about himself too
www.nknews.org/2025/08/kim-...

North Korea reveals more soldier deaths from Russia’s war than initially claimed | NK PRO North Korean state media last Friday repeatedly featured a list of 101 soldiers who died fighting in Russia’s war against Ukraine, confirming official deaths for the first time, but NK Pro analysis sh...

We reported earlier that their big ceremony last week was purposeful in highlighting 101 names of dead troops but also celebrated "heroic" suicides of 6 soldiers not on that list.
www.nknews.org/pro/north-ko...

Kim Jong Un again consoles families of fallen DPRK soldiers, reveals more deaths | NK News North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has held another large-scale event to console the families of soldiers who died after being deployed to fight in Russia’s war against Ukraine, in what state media descr...

North Korea continues with this intentionally vague admission of deaths fighting in their war on Ukraine and the "US-backed West." This time I count 250 portraits of dead soldiers held by families in group photos, including people I recognize from the previous event. www.nknews.org/2025/08/kim-...

North Korea showing off their prowess in making kitschy fake gold wall decorations (Aug 13). Many are saying Trump is getting his at Home Depot but we might also want to consider this avenue to DPRK-US detente

Not sure if I shared this photo before but can see it in the background to the left here (clip shown 2023 Feb. 9 on KCTV)

That Blue House mini replica was over the hills to the north, but they also built one right on these premises, noted below. Can't really tell if it's still there in today's photos bsky.app/profile/jaco...

The special forces drills Kim Jong Un reportedly oversaw Wednesday appear to have taken place at the KPA Unit 525 HQ south of Pyongyang. The report says the unit is directly under the KPA General Staff. They conducted the ROK Blue House raid drills in the past www.nknews.org/2025/08/kim-...

North Korea's big program Friday on the Russia war deployment revealed KJU initially decided to send troops to Kursk at a CMC meeting on Aug. 28 last year, just a couple weeks after Ukraine started the Kursk incursion. We hadn't seen this date before. Also very explicitly framed as fighting "the US"

MRW just watched my comrades shoot themselves in the head and self-detonate all over the battlefield in glorious suicides fighting Russia's war on Ukraine but made it home for the NK-pop hardened soldier battle dance concert

What they don't show you is KJU's waitresses constantly bringing in new kinds of drinks for him and changing out his ever-filling ashtray. One woman often seen doing this job is in pic 3. Then there are his white-gloved chair-bringers, another story.

You know KJU is in a good mood when he distributes his exclusive Sonamu cigarettes and ashtrays to the room
www.nknews.org/2025/08/nort...

North Korean education warns to be careful around men wearing large crosses (Russian rock musician Shaman did a concert for KJU on Friday)

KJU got his own separate podium with aircon for his speech on Thursday

Official KCNA English this morning

Several mysterious planes touch down in Pyongyang, one confirmed Russian | NK PRO A Russian air force passenger jet briefly touched down in the North Korean capital on Friday, according to aviation data, after two cargo plane-sized aircraft of unknown foreign origin appeared at the...

Details here www.nknews.org/pro/several-...

There are two big foreign planes in Pyongyang today, unannounced it seems, probably Russian. With the Trump-Putin meeting coming up, one begins to wonder if any immediate NK-Russia negotiations were in order..

Only P-912 was clearly visible in the pics, and we finally got a HD version of the 2024 year in review KJU documentary recently so found it there, P-914

Found that the Il-76 North Korea turned into this early warning aircraft (which isn't being used still it seems) is the one with tail number P-913, since their other two (P-912, P-914) were used during March 2024 paratrooper drills. reaired HD KCTV footage confirms this, wasn't visible at the time

Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, a horse, Ilham Aliyev.

And now, the same event from the Azerbaijan Presidential press office: Ilham Aliyev, neck smoothed to the max, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov’s neck like a ploughed field. No love lost between dictators

Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, a horse, Ilham Aliyev.

Today in presidential neck-smoothing, a compare and contrast.

First, from the Turkmenistan government press office: Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov with a smooth neck, Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan with a neck like a ploughed field.

Oguljahan Atabayeva, sister of current Turkmenistan President Serdar Berdimuhamedov.

Turkmenistan, and a new contender emerges. This is Oguljahan Atabayeva, daughter of Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, and sister of President Serdar, who is being Groomed For Great Things so she qualifies for the unfeasibly smooth neck work offered by the government press office.

I noticed this in Feb. 2023, when i told colleagues "putin doesn’t make sense though in the context at all, unless it was a thick book about russian military support but uh… yeah sounds crazy." Little did we know! I was never able to find better shots or higher res to prove it definitively.

Russia Putin Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting on the situation in the oil and gas sector at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia.

The likely matching Putin photo was taken in April 2022, making it a plausible selection for the book, which could have detailed arms transfer schedules and requirements for related factories sputnikmediabank.com/media/816558...

Not sure what the likely KJU photo is, maybe someone can ID it

CMC meeting came just after a historic flurry of missile tests, which in hindsight have seemed very much connected to preparing to send 240mm and other MLRS as well as Hwasong-11 SRBMs to Russia
nknews.org/2022/06/kim-...

Sept 2022 NYT story: www.nytimes.com/2022/09/05/u...