Relations between North and South Korea are showing new signs of strain, as Pyongyang has rebuffed or ignored recent overtures from Seoul aimed at food and economic assistance. “Given the recent North Korea-Russia summit, this lack of response by North Korea to offers by South Korea could be interpreted as North Korea signalling to South Korea and the U.S. that they have alternative backers in the form of Russia and China,” said Shawn Ho, a researcher specialising in Korean Peninsula affairs at RSIS.