How Interior Design TikTok Drama Is Raising Questions About Claims of Originality Online

Every few days, a new drama seems to emerge between content creators on TikTok—and more often than not, it revolves around content theft. In an increasingly saturated influencer landscape, one of the key ways for creators to differentiate themselves from their peers is through the originality of their content. When they feel that someone else is benefiting from their ideas, they often leverage their following to call out the alleged perpetrator and ruin the so-called “thief’s” credibility. But the world of DIY and interior design, where this latest drama takes place—much like any other creative endeavor—thrives on imitation and inspiration, making originality a slippery claim.

[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

The drama begins with a now-deleted video uploaded last week by a popular creator with close to 2 million followers who goes by the handle @TayBeepBoop. She is known for videos in which she decorated her house with a monster head gallery wall and a gradient room—a departure from the beige minimalism seen widely on the app these days. In the deleted video, she said she conceded that while it might be “petty,” she felt she had to call out another creator with more than 2 million followers who goes by @KaarinJoy for allegedly copying her ideas. While her language is indirect, she tries to make a point with comparisons between her own videos and @KaarinJoy’s, saying the similarities are “getting out of hand.”

I don’t know if you guys are getting this TikTok interior design drama on your FYPs but these women are beefing about truly the ugliest interiors I’ve ever seen pic.twitter.com/ANI83vIFKg

— potato bun (@erewhonsmoothie) August 7, 2023

To paint a better picture: Tay has a large mirror that she decorated with moss and flowers, and so does Kaarin. Tay has a squiggly green line that she painted on the wall going down her stairs, and Kaarin has a squiggly green line painted in her kitchen. Tay displayed her boyfriend’s monster head art pieces on the wall, and Kaarin hung a series of dinosaur heads in picture frames. Tay also accused Kaarin of copying her green and blue gradient room after Kaarin decided to paint the cabinets in her kitchen green and blue, pointing out that Kaarin also purchased the peel-and-stick wallpaper Tay designed in collaboration with Otto Studio (though, she allowed, anyone can buy the wallpaper).

At the end of the video, Tay says that she messaged Kaarin and asked her to “stop copying [her],” to which she says Kaarin responded that she “didn’t want to copy [her].”

Claims of content theft have come in many forms on TikTok. Comedians have accused creators of stealing their jokes, bar for bar, with small changes to try to make them their own. The biggest and most persistent problem has been related to dance challenges created by Black creators and their fight for proper credit. Since the app got popular back in 2020, there have been multiple instances in which Black TikTokers have created a dance, only to have it go viral after being co-opted by white creators who failed to give proper credit. The issue culminated in the Black TikTok strike in 2021 and, two years later, still persists—exemplified most recently by Jordyn Williams and her viral dance challenge earlier this year.

Such drama, as some commenters pointed out, might seem unlikely in a community of DIY arts-and-crafters, but many of the central themes cut across artistic mediums. After Tay posted her original video, she was met with backlash, with critics pointing out that she herself has been open about finding inspiration for her DIY projects on Pinterest. Even if Kaarin found inspiration from Tay, they argued, Tay in turn had sourced ideas from someone else. The general consensus among these commenters and other TikTokers dueting the video was that Tay was wrong to call our Kaarin in the way that she did. In response to this criticism, Tay uploaded a text to her Instagram story, saying, “I posted a [video] today that I should’ve continued to handle privately. This isn’t what I want my page to be about, so I removed it.” She continued to say she’s passionate about “credit to designers and creators” and wishes that could have been the focus of this conversation.

@kaarinjoy

💗

♬ original sound – Kaarin Joy

Kaarin uploaded a response to the drama on TikTok last week and confirmed that the two had spoken over DMs. In the video, Kaarin says that Tay asked her to stop doing her DIYs, and Kaarin said, “I wish she had come to me privately because I’m so frustrated.” Tay seemed to have moved on from the drama, but the comments section of her videos and Otto Studio did not. In videos she uploaded after the criticism began, users left comments like, “If I buy your wallpaper, can I hang it up, or do I need to ask your permission?”

@taybeepboop

Adding a squiggle shelf to my gradient room 💚💙 #skimspartner #diy #homedecor

♬ original sound – TayBeepBoop

On Saturday, Otto uploaded a post on Instagram and TikTok, saying that their collaboration with Tay would “no longer be available for purchase.” The company said they are “disappointed in and do not stand behind the video that Tay BeepBoop posted regarding Kaarin Joy earlier this week.” They write that her actions go “against the values and ethos of the DIY community.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Otto Studio – Renter-friendly Wallpaper (@_ottostudio)

Tay also uploaded an apology video that day. “My behavior has been wild and inappropriate,” she says in the video before apologizing for “taking so long to realize that.” The creator also says this was a “massive learning moment” and that she apologized to Kaarin personally.

@taybeepboop ♬ original sound – TayBeepBoop

TIME reached out to Tay, Kaarin, and Otto Studio for comment but did not immediately hear back.

source https://time.com/6302655/tiktok-interior-design-drama/

With Imran Khan Sent to Jail, Pakistan Faces the Abyss

Few will have missed the bitter irony of a court ruling against Pakistan’s former Prime Minister, Imran Khan, who was found guilty of corruption, sentenced to three years in prison, and barred from contesting elections for five years. For however his legacy is judged in years to come, Khan will be remembered above all for his single-minded crusade to root out “corruption” from the political fabric of Pakistan.

[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

The ruling against Khan was not unexpected. Since his removal from office following a no-confidence motion in April 2022, as well as his increasingly confrontational posture with the military (which he blamed for his downfall), many believed it was only a matter of time before Khan lost his freedom completely.

With Pakistan’s ruling coalition imminently poised to step down and make way for a caretaker government, Khan’s incarceration was seen as the last bit of unfinished business ahead of general elections. These should be held within 90 days but could come as late as Spring 2024, following a decision on August 5, 2023 by the Council of Common Interests (responsible for overseeing relations between Pakistan’s federating units) to approve the demarcation of new constituencies based on the latest census data—a skillful maneuvering tactic by Pakistan’s all-powerful military, which is desperate to use the time to dampen Khan’s soaring popularity.

This may explain the haste in obtaining a ruling against Khan, which has been widely condemned for its lack of due process. It is clear that neither Khan’s political foes at the head of the ruling coalition nor his erstwhile backers in the military establishment were prepared to take any chances that could scupper their plans to disqualify Khan as a member of parliament and crush any prospect of his return to power.

Read More: Exclusive: Imran Khan on His Plan to Return to Power

And this undemocratic move may well work. The response to his arrest has been relatively muted compared with the violent protests when he was arrested for the first time earlier this year, which convulsed large parts of Pakistan before Khan was released on May 11, 2023 after the Supreme Court ruled that he had been unlawfully detained, as security forces failed to obtain permission to carry out arrest on court premises. The Biden Administration has declared Khan’s arrest “an internal matter,” leaving no doubt that the U.S.—once the target of Khan’s strongest vitriol—is unlikely to come forward in his defense.

Khan could in theory secure a fresh judicial reprieve or regain the confidence of the military leadership by toning down his anti-military rhetoric. But neither is likely—not least for a man who has entered his eighth decade.

But while the fate of Khan’s individual career may well be in doubt, his brand of right-wing populism resting on the idea of “a savior” devoted to protecting the public from “corrupt” politicians will remain for years to come.

That’s because it’s a narrative that Pakistan’s generals have methodically honed over many decades as the preferred instrument to shape political outcomes in the country. It now enjoys a life of its own that is, arguably, independent of the fortunes of any single political leader. Although some like Khan and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, once also the military’s blue-eyed boy, built their careers on the back of this narrative with the military’s blessing, both took their place among Pakistan’s “corrupt” politicians after falling foul of their military sponsors.

Khan’s arrest is a reminder that the country must rethink this narrative and find a new way forward. There are signs that a large swathe of the public is tiring of this narrative. The most significant of these stem from Pakistan’s widening “youth bulge” and its fast expanding urban population (an estimated 60% and 40% of the population, respectively) who represent Khan’s core constituency. Their energies must be channelled, for they will not stand to be disenfranchised in the event of Khan’s disqualification or worse, a ban on Khan’s party, the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI).

Opinion polls point consistently to Khan as Pakistan’s most popular political leader. And as if to prove the point, the day after Khan’s conviction, the PTI swept local government by-elections in Peshawar trouncing the government-backed candidate.

While it may be true that, historically, the fate of political leaders in Pakistan has been decided by their relations with the military than by their standing in the polls, it would be rash indeed to ignore its implications against the background of extreme political polarization. 

For any elections (whenever they are held) to enjoy even a semblance of credibility requires, at the very least, a voice for millions in Pakistan who have clearly signalled their impatience with old habits of political engineering.

Khan may no longer be able to be that voice, but the military would be unwise to think they’ve just had the last word.  

source https://time.com/6302592/imran-khan-pakistan-future-essay/

Supreme Court Reinstates Regulation of Ghost Guns

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is reinstating a regulation aimed at reining in the proliferation of ghost guns, firearms without serial numbers that have been turning up at crime scenes across the nation in increasing numbers.

The court on Tuesday voted 5-4 to put on hold a ruling from a federal judge in Texas that invalidated the Biden administration’s regulation of ghost gun kits. The regulation will be in effect while the administration appeals the ruling to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans — and potentially the Supreme Court.

[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined with the court’s three liberal members to form the majority. Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas would have kept the regulation on hold during the appeals process. Neither side provided an explanation.

The Justice Department had told the court that local law enforcement agencies seized more than 19,000 ghost guns at crime scenes in 2021, a more than tenfold increase in just five years.

Read More: Column: For Most of U.S. History We’ve Had Both Gun Rights and Gun Regulations

“The public-safety interests in reversing the flow of ghost guns to dangerous and otherwise prohibited persons easily outweighs the minor costs that respondents will incur,” Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, the administration’s top Supreme Court lawyer, wrote in a court filing.

The new rule was issued last year and changed the definition of a firearm under federal law to include unfinished parts, like the frame of a handgun or the receiver of a long gun, so they can be tracked more easily. Those parts must be licensed and include serial numbers. Manufacturers must also run background checks before a sale — as they do with other commercially made firearms. The requirement applies regardless of how the firearm was made, meaning it includes ghost guns made from individual parts or kits or by 3D printers.

The rule does not prohibit people from purchasing a kit or any type of firearm.

U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor, in Fort Worth, Texas, struck down the rule in late June, concluding that it exceeded the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ authority. O’Connor wrote that the definition of a firearm in federal law does not cover all the parts of a gun. Congress could change the law, he wrote.

Read More: Biden Isn’t Giving Up on Gun Safety, Even as Much of Washington Is For Now

Lawyers for individuals, businesses and advocacy groups challenging the rule told the Supreme Court that O’Connor was right and that the ATF had departed from more than 50 years of regulatory practice in expanding the definition of a firearm.

The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which has long supported regulation of ghost guns, praised the Supreme Court’s action. “The challenged rule simply requires that ghost gun kits are regulated like the guns that they are. It will save lives,” David Pucino, the group’s deputy chief counsel, said in a statement.

source https://time.com/6302666/ghost-guns-supreme-court-regulation/

President Biden to Announce Historic Monument Designation for Grand Canyon

TUSAYAN, Ariz. — President Joe Biden will use his visit to Arizona on Tuesday to formally announce a national monument designation for the greater Grand Canyon, making Native American tribes’ and environmentalists’ decades-long vision to preserve the land a reality.

Biden is expected to announce plans for a new national monument to preserve about 1,562 square miles (4,046 square kilometers) just outside Grand Canyon National Park, National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi confirmed a day earlier. It will mark the president’s fifth monument designation.

[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

Tribes in Arizona have been pushing Biden to use his authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906 to create a new national monument called Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni. “Baaj Nwaavjo” means “where tribes roam,” for the Havasupai people, while “I’tah Kukveni” translates to “our footprints,” for the Hopi tribe.

Read More: As Grand Canyon National Park Turns 100, Its Chief Ranger Plans for the Next Century

Tribes and environmentalists for decades have been trying to safeguard the land north and south of Grand Canyon National Park, while Republican lawmakers and the mining industry tout the economic benefits and raise mining as a matter of national security.

Biden arrived Monday evening at Grand Canyon National Park Airport, where he was greeted by Democratic congressmen Raúl Grijalva and Ruben Gallego. Biden embraced them when he got off Air Force One and the trio chatted for a few minutes. Grijalva, who serves on the House Natural Resources Committee, has repeatedly introduced legislation to create the monument.

He will be speaking in an area that is between Pinyon Plain Mine, which is being developed and has not opened, and Red Butte, a site culturally significant to the Havasupai and Hopi tribes.

Representatives of various northern Arizona tribes have been invited to attend the president’s remarks. Among them are Yavapai-Apache Nation Chairwoman Tanya Lewis, Colorado River Indian Tribes Chairwoman Amelia Flores, Navajo President Buu Nygren and Havasupai Tribal Councilwoman Dianna Sue White Dove Uqualla. Uqualla is part of a group of tribal dancers who will perform a blessing.

“It’s really the uranium we don’t want coming out of the ground because it’s going to affect everything around us — the trees, the land, the animals, the people,” Uqualla said. “It’s not going to stop.”

Read More: ‘You Can’t Push the Land Too Hard.’ How Mapping the Grand Canyon Shaped a Vision of Climate Trouble to Come

The Interior Department, reacting to concerns over the risk of contaminating water, enacted a 20-year moratorium on the filing of new mining claims around the national park in 2012.

A U.S. Geological Survey in 2021 found most springs and wells in a vast region of northern Arizona known for its high-grade uranium ore meet federal drinking water standards despite decades of uranium mining.

In 2017, Democratic President Barack Obama backed off a full-on monument designation. The idea faced a hostile reception from Arizona’s Republican governor and two senators. Then-Gov. Doug Ducey threatened legal action, saying Arizona already has enough national monuments.

Opponents of establishing a monument have argued it won’t help combat a lingering drought and could prevent thinning of forests and stop hunters from keeping wildlife populations in check. Ranchers in Utah near the Arizona border say the monument designation would strip them of privately owned land.

The landscape of Arizona’s political delegation has since changed considerably. Gov. Katie Hobbs, Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an independent, are all on board. Hobbs, a Democrat, has openly urged Biden to issue a designation. In a letter sent to Biden in May, Hobbs claimed that she heard from people across the political spectrum, including sporting groups and outdoor groups, in support of a monument.

Mining companies and the areas that would benefit from their business remain vehemently opposed. Buster Johnson, a Mohave County supervisor, said the monument proposal feels solely politically driven and there should have been another hearing on the matter. He doesn’t see the point of not tapping into uranium and making the country less dependent on Russia.

“We need uranium for the security of our country,” Johnson said. “We’re out of the game.”

No uranium mines are operating in Arizona, although the Pinyon Plain Mine just south of Grand Canyon National Park has been under development for years. Other claims are grandfathered in. The federal government has said nearly a dozen mines within the area that has been withdrawn from new mining claims could still potentially open, even with the monument designation, because their claims were established before 2012.

After Arizona, Biden will go on to Albuquerque on Wednesday, where he will talk about how fighting climate change has created new jobs. He’ll then visit Salt Lake City on Thursday to mark the first anniversary of the PACT Act, which provides new benefits to veterans who were exposed to toxic substances. He’ll also hold a reelection fundraiser in each city.

source https://time.com/6302504/biden-grand-canyon-national-monument-designation/

Venture Philanthropist Tulaine Montgomery on the Need to Invest in the Unfamiliar

When it comes to funding new and innovative ideas, Black women are routinely overlooked. It’s an experience Tulaine Montgomery, CEO of American venture philanthropy organization New Profit, sees regularly and is working to put an end to. “All the stories about scarcity when it comes to racially and ethnically diverse leadership and entrepreneurship—it’s a myth,” she told TIME Senior Correspondent Janell Ross during a TIME100 Talk at the first-ever TIME Impact House in Martha’s Vineyard on Monday. “These resources and these ideas are abundant.”

[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

Montgomery was a member of the core team that helped launch New Profit in 1998. During her time at the organization, she has led initiatives focused on strengthening educational pathways and employment opportunities for underserved youth, channeling resources and support to entrepreneurs impacted by the criminal justice system, and building a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive philanthropic sector. New Profit backs social entrepreneurship in support of advancing equity and opportunity, but it should not be confused with charity, emphasizes Montgomery. 

“Charity perhaps has its place in a spiritual context, but when I’m talking about impact and systems change, I have no interest in charity,” Montgomery shared. “The history of charity is that it has its origins in the sort of manifest destiny ethos,” she said. “That idea that there are some people who are ordained by God to help those who are less fortunate, which by definition implies a sort of hierarchy of capability. It means that the solutions could not possibly reside in the people who are in some way receiving the charity.” 

Ultimately, when you invest in someone—as opposed to donating to them—it becomes a partnership, says Montgomery. “We are peers who both have something of equal value to offer to the creation of the solution to the scaling of the business.”

But at the moment, Montgomery says, there’s a trust deficit between those with the resources to give and those in need. She referenced the public outcry following the death of George Floyd in 2020, when corporations pledged billions to advance racial equity. But only a fraction of those funds were paid, she pointed out. 

Too many people don’t see the true value of investing in diverse communities. “Right after the death of George Floyd,” Montgomery said, “I would be in conversations with well-intended people with economic wealth, who will say, ‘It’s really great that New Profit is investing in a broader range of entrepreneurs. That’s great. And I love that. Are you going to sustain the same level of quality and vigor?’” It was a question that suggested doubt in the long-term success of such commitments, often perceived as admirable risks or write-offs rather than necessary investments. 

“We can’t afford to pretend it’s an optional thing. Nor can we afford to, in my opinion, pretend that coalition-building, what some would call ‘diversity work’ is nice to have. We have the benefit of living in a moment where the right thing to do is also the smart thing to do.” Especially as U.S. demographics shift, she says, only those who “know how to build effective and sustainable coalitions are going to have the adaptive capability to thrive.”

“The truth is,” Montgomery said, “that the most high-impact, innovative, economically efficient, and sustainable solutions and business models are coming from the communities that will soon be part of the coalition of a multiracial, multicultural country.”

If there’s anything that Montgomery wanted the audience to take away, it’s that investors can’t have a narrow approach. “We couldn’t only look for the charismatic, Ivy-educated, often male entrepreneur, and say, ‘That’s the ticket,’” Montgomery said of her company New Profit. “We had to learn how to invest in excellence that was unfamiliar.”

The inaugural TIME Impact House, launched on August 7, is a dedicated space to convene and facilitate meaningful action and drive impactful change during the annual Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival. Presented with founding partner UBS, the TIME Impact House features conversations focused on advancing inclusive growth, systems change, and equity-centered approaches to philanthropy with Tulaine Montgomery, CEO of New Profit; Allyson Felix, 11-time Olympic Medalist and cofounder and president of Saysh; Kelly Burton, CEO of Black Innovation Alliance; and more.

source https://time.com/6302487/new-profit-tulaine-montgomery-time-impact-house/

The Mega Millions Jackpot Is Now $1.55 Billion. Here Are Your Odds of Winning It

NEW YORK — There’s no shaking it. Your chances of winning the lottery are extremely slim.

After no big winner Friday night, the Mega Millions jackpot climbed to an estimated $1.55 billion. If someone wins it all on Tuesday, when the next Mega Millions drawing takes place, the prize would one of the largest in U.S. lottery history.

[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

But don’t plan on entering a new tax bracket anytime soon. The odds of winning a Mega Millions jackpot — no matter the size — stand at about 1 in 302.6 million.

Because of the almost impossible chance of winning big, experts stress that you shouldn’t spend all your money on lottery tickets. If you choose to play, it’s important to be mindful of what you can afford — and maybe consider other places to put your money, even if it’s just a few dollars at a time.

Lottery tickets are “definitely not good investments,” Matthew Kovach, an assistant professor in Virginia Tech’s economics department told The Associated Press last month. “They’re not even investments … there’s an expectation you will always lose money.”

Here are some things to know about the odds of winning the lottery.

Winning the lottery is nearly impossible. What’s more likely?

There’s a long list of rare events that are more likely than winning the Mega Millions or Powerball jackpot.

A common comparison is the odds of getting struck by lightning once in your lifetime, which stand at about one in 15,300. Even if you bought a lottery ticket for every drawing over 80 years — two times a week for Mega Millions and three times a week for Powerball — you would still be far less likely to win than to be struck by lightning one time in your life, Syracuse University mathematics professor Steven Diaz said.

“A slightly darker example,” Kovach added, is comparing the odds of winning the lottery to getting into a fatal car accident on the way to a store. “Imagine you have to drive half a mile to buy your lottery ticket, so you have a 1 mile round-trip. It’s about 4 times as likely that you die in a car accident on the trip to buy your ticket than you are to win,” he said.

Of course, both Mega Millions and Powerball offer a handful of tiers below the top jackpots — with the lowest prizes starting at $2 and $4, respectfully. For both games, the odds of winning any prize stand at about 1 in 24.

Has winning the lottery become harder?

Yes. Winning the lottery has become harder in recent years, causing jackpots to grow bigger and bigger — and that’s by design.

Such big jackpots comes down to math and more difficult odds. In 2015, the Powerball lottery lengthened the odds of winning from 1 in 175.2 million to 1 in 292.2 million. Mega Millions followed two years later, lengthening the odds of winning the top prize from 1 in 258.9 million to 1 in 302.6 million. The largest lottery jackpots in the U.S. have come since those changes were made.

How much do jackpot winners really take home?

When someone wins a lottery jackpot in games like Powerball or Mega Millions they have two options: an annuity that is distributed over 29 years or a (significantly smaller) cash payout.

The estimated $1.25 billion jackpot seen for Mega Millions’ Friday drawing, for example, is the annuity option — and the cash value for this prize is nearly half that, standing at $625.3 million. Most jackpot winners opt for the cash.

Federal and state taxes will also lower the money you take home, with deductions depending on where you live.

Is buying a lottery ticket a good investment?

Because winning is so rare, experts maintain that lottery tickets are horrible investments — but note that every person’s reason for playing the lottery is different.

Some people might buy a $2 lottery ticket as a form of entertainment and find satisfaction in “the excitement of thinking you might win,” Diaz said. Meanwhile, others may enter the lottery out of feelings of desperation or financial struggle — with experts pointing to consequences that have disproportionately impacted low-income communities.

The lottery has historically acted as a regressive tax on the poor, meaning the people that can least afford to lose their money buy the most tickets, Lia Nower, a professor and the director of the Center for Gambling Studies at Rutgers University, previously told The AP.

She said her “concern with lottery is really more people who are buying it every day or two or three times a week” as opposed to those who purchase one ticket as the jackpot nears $1 billion.

A $2 ticket may not seem like much — but it can add up for those who are regularly entering the lottery over time. Alternative spending options could include opening an investment account that allows you to invest in small amounts or buying partial stock, Kovach said.

“In reality, it’s probably best to diversify by something like an index fund — but if you’re just starting out, I would… (suggest putting it) in the stock market or something like that,” he said. “You will actually probably see a return over time.”

source https://time.com/6302476/mega-millions-jackpot-odds/

A Russian Jet Was Spotted in North Korea, Raising Concerns Over Possible Arms Deal

[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

An unusual sighting of a Russian military jet in North Korea is stoking concern that Kim Jong Un is selling Vladimir Putin weapons as ties strengthen between the sanctioned states.

Tracking data from FlightRadar24 shows the Russian Air Force Ilyushin IL-62M flying from Moscow to Pyongyang on July 31 and returning on Aug. 2. Satellite imagery showed the aircraft at Pyongyang’s international airport for about 36 hours, according to NK News, a Seoul-based provider of news on North Korea that also tracks flight activity in the isolated country.

The flight was the first by this type of Russian military VIP plane to North Korea since mid-2019, when Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin traveled to Pyongyang, NK News said. Pyongyang closed its borders in early 2020 due to the pandemic, choking its economy.

Neither Russia nor North Korea have reported on the plane, and it is unclear who was aboard. Russia’s Defense Ministry didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The journey by the Russian Air Force jet came just days after Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu traveled to Pyongyang on a similar plane to attend a military parade hosted by Kim, who also gave him a tour of a weapons exhibit. It “appears related to following up on Shoigu’s delegation visit and possibly agreements made with Kim,” NK News said, adding that analysts “speculated that the two could have made weapons deals.”

North Korea has been trying to revive its economy, largely by resuming trade with China and evading international sanctions. Russia recently restarted oil shipments to North Korea for the first time since 2020, the United Nations has said, following the earlier resumption of grain exports. It is impossible to know what North Korea is sending in return but both the U.S. government and independent analysts suggested munitions from the stockpiles North Korea has built up amid tensions with Seoul.

For months, U.S. officials have said Moscow is seeking to restock ammunition reserves depleted by its war in Ukraine.

“We have made clear our concerns about cooperation between Russia and North Korea, we have made clear our concerns about North Korea seeking to assist Russia in its aggression in Ukraine,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Monday at a briefing in Washington in response to a question about the plane.

“We will continue to make those concerns clear and we will continue to enforce all of our sanctions,” he said.

The U.S., European Union and others stepped up sanctions against Russia after its February 2022 invasion, including against its leading banks, while also warning nations against materially supporting Moscow’s war effort. The U.S. strategy over Ukraine rests in part on choking off Putin’s economy and hindering its armed forces so any backing from other nations could undercut that.

The most obvious items that Pyongyang has and Moscow needs are artillery shells and rockets that Moscow can use in Soviet-era weaponry pushed into service in Ukraine. The Kremlin’s war machine has been burning through its stocks and is scrambling for supplies with the war now in its second year. 

Since North Korea’s economy is so small, an arms deal of about $250 million would be equal to about 1% of its GDP and welcome for a country cut off from the global financial system due to sanctions aimed at ending its nuclear weapons program.

Read More: North Korea Resumes Launching Missile Tests. How Worried Should We Be?

A sale of North Korea’s newest short-range ballistic missiles would constitute a pretty significant escalation, said weapons expert Joost Oilemans. It “would likely be soon identified (if only during transport) and condemned as a gross sanctions violation,” he wrote in an email to Bloomberg News.

Russia has been scouring its arms depots for any functioning armored vehicles, “reactivating some absolutely stunningly old equipment” such as T-54 and T-62 tanks and may need help keeping them running, he said. “North Korea is perhaps the final remaining producer of spare parts for these types as it still maintains an extensive inventory itself,” Oilemans said.

Kim also showed Shoigu new drones but those are unlikely to make their way to a battlefield in Ukraine anytime soon.

“They are just not at a mature stage,” said Yoon Sukjoon, a retired captain in South Korea’s navy who is a senior fellow at the Korea Institute for Military Affairs. North Korea lacks the manufacturing capacity to produce them in significant numbers anyway, he said.

Whatever the exact reason for the mysterious military flight, Russia and North Korea would be aware that they were “fanning the flames of the U.S. government’s accusation that the two countries have a weapons deal,” said Rachel Minyoung Lee, a regional issues manager at the Vienna-based Open Nuclear Network who was an analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency’s Open Source Enterprise for almost two decades.

Lee added that she was concerned the countries “might have discussed deeper-level military cooperation” during the Russian defense minister’s visit. “Clearly, showcasing to the world that they have each other’s back was more important than whatever optics Shoigu’s visit would present,” she said.

—With assistance from Danny Lee.

source https://time.com/6302471/russia-military-jet-north-korea-arms-deal/