Zimbabwe, under the rule of despot Robert Mugabe, has long been a friend of the Kim family and recently aided the North Korean nuclear weapons program. After four years of deliberations, an “arms for uranium” pact was signed between the two in 2013. In exchange for arms and ammunition of unspecified quantities, the North Koreans were granted access to Zimbabwe’s Kanyemba district, one of the world’s largest uranium reserves, for the elusive yellowcake used in making nuclear weapons. News of this deal went unknown in the West but Nehanda Radio in Zimbabwe reported on the pact.

“North Korea has always been ally of this country since the liberation struggle days against white minority rule,” Mugabe said of the agreement, “They have trained our soldiers, and now the press acts as if it’s a discovery that this deal exists. Chinorwadza ipapo chii? Inga nyika dzose dzinotengeresana zvombowani? (What is paining about the issue? Is it not a fact that all nations buy weapons from one another?)”