PAKISTAN PERSPECTIVE

Islamabad handles the event as an editorial triptych with remarkable competence: Dawn publishes two articles (the uranium plant and the visit), Geo News confirms and complements. Dawn, on the plant angle, quotes Lim Eul-chul (Kyungnam University, Institute for Far Eastern Studies) who connects the plant reveal to another South Korean file: Seoul's pursuit of a nuclear-powered submarine and its talks with Washington over uranium enrichment rights. "Even if South Korea does not proceed, the North will follow its own path, but such developments provide a convenient pretext to push its nuclear build-up faster and on a larger scale." For Dawn, this context changes the reading: the plant reveal is also a response to Seoul's evolving posture. On the visit angle, Geo News quotes Lim Eul-chul again: "China is meeting leaders from around the world, coordinating positions and playing a mediating role. As China's international standing rises, Beijing is likely seeking to draw Pyongyang more actively into its diplomatic orbit as a partner in advancing a more multilateral order." And Hong Min (KINU) adds for Karachi a crucial detail: Pyongyang depends on China "for up to 95% of total trade and 85% of its exports" (2022 National Committee on North Korea statistics). That ratio changes the nature of the conversation: Xi is not asking an ally, he is instructing a client. And the Pakistani press notes the deepening Russia-North Korea military cooperation (troop deployment to Ukraine in exchange for financial aid, military technology, food, energy that lets Pyongyang circumvent sanctions) — an element Western media sometimes relegate to the background.