North Korea and Zimbabwe: a friendship explained



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  The fifth brigade of the Zimbabwean army, trained by North Korea, practiced karate at the Rufaro stadium in Harare, Zimbabwe, in May 1984.

The fifth brigade of the Zimbabwean army, trained by North Korea, practices karate at Rufaro Stadium in Harare, Zimbabwe, in May 1984.

When former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe was elected to power in 1980 after the country's independence, North Korea's military training has become more closely tied to his leadership. Mugabe agreed with North Korean leader Kim Il Sung that Pyongyang would lead a wing of the Zimbabwe Army, known as the Fifth Brigade, which would be under the direct control of Mugabe himself while he was in charge. he sought to consolidate his power in the country. "The fifth bridge had a reputation for ferocity," Daragh Neville, an Africa-North Korea expert from the Chatham House think tank, told CNBC. He is considered responsible for a mbadacre perpetrated in 1983 in Matabeleland, a region of western Zimbabwe, where nearly 20,000 people were killed in tribal violence

"What s & # 39; Matabeleland remains an extremely sensitive topic in Zimbabwe.

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