For years, he was the tubby dictator mocked as 'The Little Rocket Man' due to his obsession with nuclear missiles: But now Kim Jong Un has moved us closer than ever to WW3 by sending soldiers to Ukraine

For galore years, Kim Jong Un was roundly dismissed by galore Western leaders arsenic a superior menace to bid and stableness connected the satellite signifier contempt his sabre-rattling rhetoric and promises of atomic confrontation.

The chubby North Korean chief's cautiously staged photograph ops with legions of fawning women and cringeworthy authorities media montages of him admiring rocket tests from down a brace of aviators did small to remedy his 'all bark, nary bite' image.

Yet the dynastic leader's dogged pursuit of a devastating atomic arsenal and person ties with Russia and China present seems to beryllium paying disconnected - and the West has been forced to instrumentality notice.

For months, North Korea is believed to person supplied Vladimir Putin's forces with a dependable watercourse of artillery shells and missiles utilized against Ukrainian forces and defenceless civilians alike.

In September, the nation's authorities quality bureau unveiled to the satellite the first-ever glimpse into a installation producing weapons-grade uranium for the alleged Hermit Kingdom's intercontinental ballistic missiles.

And this week, Kyiv, Seoul and Washington sounded the alarm that thousands of North Korean troops are grooming successful Russia and whitethorn soon articulation Moscow's soldiers successful nonstop struggle with the Ukrainian defenders.

Now, arsenic the Ukrainian President warns that North Korea's engagement could hasten the eruption of World War III, MailOnline charts the downward spiral of Kim's relations with the West and examines the imaginable fallout if Pyongyang's troops measurement onto European soil.

As unthinkable arsenic it seems now, determination was a clip not truthful agelong agone erstwhile the imaginable of North Korea and the West breaking decades of communal disdain successful favour of rapprochement appeared somewhat legitimate. 

After Kim Jong Un took powerfulness successful 2011 pursuing the decease of his begetter Kim Jong Il, the rocky relations betwixt his federation and the US plunged to caller lows. 

The Obama medication battered Pyongyang with sanctions successful an effort to unit Kim into a frustrated submission by abandoning his ruthless pursuit of atomic weapons and extremist militarisation - 1 that yet proved futile. 

Little changed astatine archetypal erstwhile Donald Trump won the keys to the White House successful 2016 - the braggadocios businessman was noticeably confrontational with the North Korean leader, branding him the 'Little Rocket Man'.

The cutting moniker - a notation to Kim's incessant rocket tests and less-than-imposing carnal stature - was an instant deed and the dictator has been powerless to flight it ever since. 

But earlier agelong their narration began to thaw, and the satellite successful 2018 witnessed a landmark infinitesimal when Trump became the archetypal US president to ever conscionable a North Korean person erstwhile the brace came look to look astatine a acme successful Singapore.

That moment, which analysts heralded arsenic Washington's designation of North Korea arsenic a morganatic state, triggered what looked to beryllium a melodramatic displacement successful bilateral relations. 

Pyongyang's dynastic main engaged successful a bid of summits and talks with US diplomats and confederate counterparts successful which, by immoderate accounts, helium appeared genuinely keen to repair relations with the West.

North Korea joined different atomic powers successful agreeing to extremity atomic investigating successful 2018 erstwhile Kim claimed helium had 'completed' nuclearisation and imposed a moratorium connected further operations. 

And a twelvemonth aft their archetypal meeting, Trump made past again erstwhile helium held a meeting with Kim successful the demilitarised portion separating North Korea from the South.

South Korea's erstwhile president Moon Jae In revealed successful his memoirs that successful meetings with US and South Korean diplomats, Kim expressed upset astatine the 'global mistrust' of his federation and adjacent considered embarking connected a atomic disarmament programme successful speech for sanctions alleviation and a amended narration with the West.

Moon adjacent said that Ju Ae - 1 of 3 children fathered by Kim who galore judge is being groomed arsenic his successor - was a cardinal motivating origin down this drive, alleging that the North Korean person once 'mentioned that helium has a girl and doesn't privation her procreation to unrecorded with the load of atomic weapons'.   

But Trump's talks were yet unsuccessful, and soon aft the 2019 gathering immoderate glimmer of anticipation that Pyongyang and Washington could reconcile simply evaporated erstwhile the 'rocket man' announced helium had lifted the moratorium connected atomic investigating and vowed to plough ahead. 

Ever since, Kim has pursued a overmuch much hawkish policy, seeking person ties with the likes of Russia and China while ordering subject scientists and his monolithic defence manufacture to embark connected a run of accelerated armament. 

Now, conscionable 5 years connected from the handshake successful the DMZ, North Korea's relations with the West are astatine their lowest ebb.  

Since adopting an assertive atomic doctrine successful 2022, North Korea has repeatedly vowed to usage atomic weapons archetypal if it perceives the enactment successful Pyongyang arsenic nether threat.

Last twelvemonth saw the pariah authorities behaviour a grounds fig of rocket tests and Kim has successful caller months routinely delivered rousing speeches ordering his troops to hole for a aboriginal conflict. 

In April, his forces reportedly conducted North Korea's archetypal ever 'nuclear trigger' drills which progressive simulating an intercontinental ballistic rocket (ICBM) counterattack.

Then past month, North Korea's media unveiled to the satellite a glimpse into a installation producing weapons-grade uranium arsenic Kim ordered his scientists and subject officials to 'exponentially' summation the fig of nuclear weapons astatine his disposal. 

A enactment of authorities media photos showed Kim clad successful all-black being briefed by scientists and a brace of subject men portion walking done agelong lines of gangly grey tubes.

The Korean Central News Agency didn't accidental erstwhile Kim visited the facilities, nor did it uncover wherever they are located.

But it was the pariah state's archetypal disclosure of a uranium-enrichment installation since it showed 1 astatine Yongbyon to visiting American scholars successful 2010 - and the archetypal clip it has ever published pictures to the world.   

While the latest unveiling is apt an effort to use much unit connected the US and its allies, the images could supply outsiders with a invaluable root of accusation for estimating the magnitude of atomic ingredients that North Korea has produced.

Experts besides said the abrupt nationalist disclosure of the North's uranium enrichment installation could beryllium intended to interaction the US statesmanlike election in November.

The images are 'a connection to the adjacent medication that it volition beryllium intolerable to denuclearise North Korea', according to Hong Min, a elder expert astatine the Korea Institute for National Unification.

'It is besides a connection demanding different countries to admit North Korea arsenic a atomic state,' helium added. 

In caller days, North Korea's standoff with the West ramped up to caller levels. 

After months of having provided artillery shells and ammunition sorely needed to support up Russia's furious complaint of occurrence grinding Ukraine's defenders down, Kyiv and Seoul sounded the alarm that thousands of troops from North Korea had arrived successful Russia.

Moscow and Pyongyang dismissed the claims arsenic fabrication, but Ukraine, the US and South Korea each importune their quality puts thousands of North Korean soldiers connected Russian soil.

US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby declared connected Wednesday that Washington is not definite whether the troops are headed for the frontline, but added: 'If these North Korean troops are employed against Ukraine 'they volition go morganatic subject targets'.

Zelensky meanwhile has warned that the information of a 3rd state could escalate the struggle into a satellite war, and Kyiv is already preparing arsenic though combating North Korea successful its territory is inevitable.

Ukraine's 'I Want to Live' project, a hotline encouraging Russian soldiers to surrender, published a video successful Korean connected Wednesday calling for North Korean soldiers to springiness up.

'We telephone for the soldiers of the Korean People's Army, who were sent to assistance the Putin regime. You should not dice senselessly connected idiosyncratic else's land. There is nary request to repetition the destiny of hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers who volition ne'er instrumentality home!' it said.

An injection of 10,000 North Korean troops, which is what some Ukrainian and South Korean quality person claimed, 'could importantly destabilise Ukraine's defence and greatly accelerate the advancement of Russian forces,' said Glib Voloskyi, an expert from a Ukrainian deliberation tank, Come Back Alive Initiatives Center.

But the reported figures of North Korean unit numbers alteration wildly, with US quality putting the fig astatine 3,000. 

And though Russian subject sources who spoke to the BBC confirmed North Korean soldiers had so arrived successful the Far East, they said the fig was 'nowhere adjacent 3,000'.

In immoderate case, Western defence officials are treating the imaginable precise seriously.

'If they're co-belligerents — if their volition is to enactment successful this warfare connected Russia's behalf — that is simply a very, precise superior issue,' US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said.

'It volition person impacts, not lone successful Europe. It volition besides interaction things successful the Indo-Pacific arsenic well.' 

Zelensky, pursuing a gathering with defence officials connected Friday, said North Korean troops could beryllium sent to combat Ukrainian troops this weekend.

'According to quality reports, connected 27-28 October, Russia volition usage the archetypal North Korean subject successful combat zones,' helium said successful a connection connected societal media.

'The existent engagement of North Korea successful hostilities should beryllium met not with a unsighted oculus and confused comments, but with tangible unit connected some Moscow and Pyongyang to comply with the UN Charter and to punish escalation,' helium added.

A elder authoritative wrong the Ukrainian president's bureau said the North Korean troops could beryllium deployed successful conflict either to the Russian portion of Kursk oregon successful eastbound Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said successful an interrogation aired Friday connected authorities tv that it was up to Moscow however it uses the treaty's clause connected communal subject assistance.

'What enactment we instrumentality with this clause - that's inactive nether question. We are successful interaction with our North Korean friends,' Putin said.

'I mean to accidental that it's our sovereign decision, whether we usage thing oregon not - where, however - whether we request this, oregon we, for example, lone transportation retired immoderate exercises, training, passing connected immoderate acquisition - that's our business,' helium added.