World

Kyiv, Ukraine — Ukraine said Monday that its troops killed or wounded at least 30 North Korean soldiers who had been deployed by Russia to its western Kursk region, where Ukraine has seized territory.

Thousands of troops from North Korea have come to reinforce Russian forces, including in the Kursk border region where Russia has been clawing back territory after a surprise offensive from Ukrainian forces this summer.

"On December 14 and 15, army units from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) suffered significant losses near the villages of Plekhovo, Vorozhba, Martynovka in the Kursk region of Russia, at least 30 soldiers were killed and wounded," Ukraine's military intelligence said.

The units are "being replenished with fresh personnel" from North Korea, which Western officials estimate has sent at least 10,000 soldiers to help Moscow.

Russia and North Korea have boosted their military ties since Moscow's invasion.

Russia has begun deploying "a noticeable number" of North Koreans in assaults to push Ukrainian troops out of the Kursk region, Zelensky said on Saturday.

He said that according to his information, "the Russians include (North Koreans) in combined units and use them in operations in the Kursk region", where Ukraine launched an incursion in August.

Zelensky said he has also heard the North Koreans "may be used in other parts of the front line", and that "losses among this category are also already noticeable".

Russia's defence ministry said last week its troops recaptured some small settlements in the Kursk region.

Last month a Ukrainian army source told AFP that Kyiv controls 800 square kilometres of territory there, down from previous claims it controlled around 1,400 square kilometres.

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday hailed his army's accelerating advance in Ukraine and praised 2024 as a "landmark" year in the course of Moscow's military offensive on its Western-backed neighbour.

Addressing top military generals in an end-of-year meeting, the Kremlin leader struck a defiant and optimistic tone, claiming his troops had the upper hand across the entire front line.

He also hit out at what he called a Western "hybrid war" and its attempts to inflict a "strategic defeat" on Moscow.

The comments come with Russia's army advancing across eastern Ukraine at their fastest pace since the first weeks of the offensive.

Both Moscow and Kyiv are seeking to improve their position on the battlefield before US President-elect Donald Trump comes to power in January.

The Republican has repeatedly said he could strike a ceasefire in hours, without presenting a plan, and speculation about peace talks is mounting.

'Strategic initiative'

"Russian troops are firmly holding the strategic initiative along the entire line of contact," Putin said in the televised meeting with army bosses and defence ministry officials.

He said Russia's army had seized 189 Ukrainian settlements this year and called 2024 a "landmark year in the achievement of the goals of the special military operation", using Moscow's official language for its campaign.

Speaking after Putin at the same meeting, Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov said Russia's troops had seized a total of almost 4,500 square kilometres of Ukrainian territory in this year and were now gaining around 30 square kilometres a day.

He said Ukraine controlled less than one per cent  of the eastern Lugansk region, and around 25-30 per cent  of the Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.

Russia claimed in 2022 to annex all four, despite not having full control over any of them.

Russia's army said Monday it had captured another small village in the Donetsk region, as part of its latest advance.

AFP analysis of Institute for the Study of War data found that in November Russian troops advanced at their fastest pace since March 2022, the first full month of the offensive.

Troop 'flow'

Putin also hailed Russia's military industry and defence enterprises in providing advanced weapons and equipment to support Moscow's army.

He said Russia was working on the mass production of missile systems, including hypersonic ones like the Oreshnik missile he fired on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro last month, and indicated troops were using AI-powered systems.

Amid signs of economic volatility at home, the ex-KGB spy, in power for a quarter of a century, defended Russia's vast defence and security spending.

Military spending has surpassed six per cent of GDP, while overall defence and security outlays are almost nine per cent.

"It is not, strangely enough, the biggest expenditure in the world, even among countries that do not have any armed conflict," Putin said.

"Nevertheless, it is a lot of money, and here we need to use it very rationally," he added.

Kyiv, by contrast, relies on Western financial and military support to fund and wage its defensive campaign.

There are fears there that Trump could cut US aid, potentially dealing a devastating blow to Ukraine's ability to hold off Russia's advance.

Ukraine also faces manpower shortages across the frontlines and is being pressured by Washington to consider lowering its draft age from 25 to 18 to recruit more soldiers.

Putin said that Russia, which offers hugh salaries and sign-up bonuses to new soldiers , faced no such problems.

He said 430,000 people had signed up to fight this year, up from around 300,000 in 2023.

"And this flow of volunteers is not stopping," he said.

SYDNEY —The five remaining members of the Australian "Bali Nine" drug ring flew home on Sunday after 19 years in jail in Indonesia, ending a saga that had frayed relations between the two countries.

Indonesian police arrested the nine Australians in 2005, convicting them of attempting to smuggle more than eight kilogrammes of heroin off the holiday island of Bali.

The case drew global attention to Indonesia's unforgiving drug laws, with two of the gang executed by firing squad, while the others served hefty prison sentences.

"The Australian government can confirm that Australian citizens, Matthew Norman, Scott Rush, Martin Stephens, Si Yi Chen, and Michael Czugaj have returned to Australia," Canberra said in a statement.

"The men will have the opportunity to continue their personal rehabilitation and reintegration in Australia."

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the men returned in the afternoon, and he had thanked Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto for his "compassion".

"Australia shares Indonesia's concern about the serious problem illicit drugs represents," Albanese said.

"The government will continue to cooperate with Indonesia to counter narcotics trafficking and transnational crime," he told reporters.

"These Australians spent more than 19 years in prison in Indonesia. It was time for them to come home."

The Australian government did not give further details on the agreement with Jakarta.

Firing squad

An Indonesian minister told AFP the five men had left the country as prisoners but "all the responsibilities for them" had now passed to Australia.

The men were accompanied on their flight home by three officials from the Australian embassy, another Indonesian official said.

They were flown from Bali to the northern Australian city of Darwin, landing around 2:42 pm (5:12 GMT), Indonesia's coordinating law, human rights, immigration and corrections ministry said.

Negotiations over the repatriation of the men reportedly picked up after Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto met Albanese on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru last month.

The Australian government said it had consistently advocated for them and provided consular support to them and their families during their incarceration.

It asked the media to respect their privacy.

Australia's national broadcaster ABC said the men were now free, and would not have to serve further prison time at home.

Heroin-lined suitcase

The men had been given temporary accommodation and had made voluntary undertakings to continue their rehabilitation, it said.

It is not uncommon for foreigners to be arrested for drug offences in Bali, which attracts millions of visitors to its palm-fringed beaches every year.

Muslim-majority Indonesia has some of the world's toughest drug laws, including the death penalty for traffickers.

Accused "Bali Nine" ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were executed by firing squad in 2015 despite repeated pleas from the Australian government, which recalled its ambassador at the time.

Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen died of cancer in 2018, months before Renae Lawrence was released after her sentence was commuted.

Australian police came under criticism after the Bali Nine's arrests for alerting Indonesian authorities to the drug-smuggling ring despite the death penalty risk.

In November, a senior Indonesian minister said Jakarta aimed to return prisoners from Australia, France and the Philippines by the end of this year.

France last month requested the return of citizen Serge Atlaoui, a welder arrested in 2005 in a drugs factory outside Jakarta, according to a senior Indonesian minister.

Earlier this month, Indonesia signed an agreement with the Philippines for the return of mother of two Mary Jane Veloso, who was arrested in 2010 after the suitcase she was carrying was found to be lined with 2.6 kilogrammes of heroin.

TOKYO — The United States has begun relocating thousands of Marines from the Japanese island of Okinawa, Tokyo and Washington said Saturday, after decades of mounting grievances among locals over America's military presence.

In 2012, the United States said it would redeploy 9,000 Marines from the island where communities complain bases are an unfair burden , with objections ranging from pollution to noise and helicopter crashes.

The relocation began with "a small detachment of approximately 100 logistics support Marines" transferred to the US island territory of Guam, Japan's defence ministry and the US Marine Corps said.

"Commencement of relocation to Guam signifies the first phase of relocating Marines to locations outside of Japan," said the joint statement.

There are currently around 19,000 Marines in Okinawa , strategically located east of Taiwan, which has become a flashpoint for tensions between the United States and China.

Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to bring the self-ruled island under its control.

Washington is Taiwan's most important backer and biggest supplier of arms, but has long maintained "strategic ambiguity" about the prospect of backing it with boots on the ground.

The 9,000 relocating Marines are set to be moved elsewhere in the Pacific,  to Guam, Hawaii or Australia, the United States has said.

Okinawa comprises just 0.6 per cent of Japan's territory but hosts more than half of the 50,000 US troops posted in the country.

The 1995 gang rape of a 12 year old girl by three US soldiers in Okinawa also prompted widespread backlash, with calls for a rethink of the 1960 pact allowing the United States to post soldiers in Japan.

SEOUL —  South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol vowed on Thursday to fight "until the very last minute" in a defiant address defending his shock decision to declare martial law and deploy troops to the country's parliament last week.

The South Korean leader is barred from foreign travel as part of a probe into his inner circle over the dramatic events of December 3-4 that stunned Seoul's allies and threw the country into some of its deepest political turmoil in years.

Yoon, staring down an impeachment vote in parliament on Saturday, vowed to "fight with the people until the very last minute".

He went on the attack against the opposition, accusing it of pushing the country into a "national crisis".

"The National Assembly, dominated by the large opposition party, has become a monster that destroys the constitutional order of liberal democracy," Yoon said in his televised address.

Yoon also doubled down on his justification of declaring martial law, which he had said was taken to safeguard South Korea "from the threats posed by North Korea's communist forces and eliminate anti-state elements".

"I apologise again to the people who must have been surprised and anxious due to the martial law," he added.

"Please trust me."

Saturday's impeachment vote will take place at around 5:00 pm (0800 GMT).

It needs to win support from eight members of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) to secure the necessary two-thirds majority.

PPP leader Han Dong-hoon urged party members on Thursday to attend the meeting and vote "according to their conviction and conscience".

"President Yoon Suk Yeol is no longer able to fulfil his duties as president, and I think that has become clearer and clearer," he said.

Police meanwhile attempted another raid on Yoon's presidential office compound, Yonhap news agency reported, a day after a similar attempt was blocked by security guards.

The main opposition Democratic Party has said it would file legal complaints for insurrection against the president's staff and security if they continued to obstruct law enforcement.

Yonhap said Thursday's raid focused on the headquarters of the military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, which reportedly agreed to cooperate with the investigation.

 'I want to witness history' 

South Korea's capital has been rocked by daily protests since last week, with thousands gathering to demand Yoon's resignation.

Kim Jae-hee, 34, told AFP she would be hitting the streets on Saturday to protest for Yoon's impeachment.

"I want to witness history," she said. "I also know a lot of friends who are doing the same."

Yoon said Thursday he would "not avoid legal and political responsibility regarding the declaration of martial law".

And members of his inner circle have come under intense scrutiny for their alleged role in last week's martial law declaration.

Police said on Thursday they had raided the headquarters of the military's capital defence command, which was deployed during the martial law declaration.

Former defence minister Kim Yong-hyun, who is accused of urging Yoon to impose martial law, tried to kill himself in prison on Tuesday, authorities said. 

Kim was first detained on Sunday and later formally arrested on charges of "engaging in critical duties during an insurrection" and "abuse of authority to obstruct the exercise of rights".

The former interior minister and the general in charge of the martial law operation are also barred from foreign travel.

Two senior police officials have also been arrested in the last days.

The PPP has said that, pending Yoon's resignation, he has agreed to hand power to Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and party chief Han.