French President Emmanuel Macron is preparing to participate in the biennial summit of French-speaking countries and territories, which begins today (Saturday) in Cambodia. Macron faces popular unrest at home and complex international political challenges, at a time when an African conflict casts a shadow over the summit’s work.
The Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, will host the meetings of the International Organization of Francophonie over a period of 3 days, until next Monday.
Macron is expected to hold bilateral talks and participate in the summit meeting of the organization, which includes 90 countries and a French-speaking government, which includes 53 full members, 5 associate members, and 32 countries as observers.
Cambodia will take over the presidency of the summit from France, which hosted the previous session in 2024.
The thorny diplomatic issues represent a real test for Macron and the participating leaders, especially when voting on Monday to choose the new Secretary-General of the organization for the next four years.
The main competition is between two female candidates from two African countries who have sharp differences. They are Rwandan Louise Mushikiwabo, who is seeking a third term, and Congolese Juliana Lumumba (71 years old), daughter of the late independence leader Patrice Lumumba.
Kinshasa, Washington and UN experts accuse Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebel movement, which is one of about 100 armed groups fighting to control eastern Congo, which is rich in minerals on the border with Rwanda, something Kigali constantly denies.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has threatened to withdraw from the organization if Mushikiwabo is re-elected. If this happens, it will be a painful blow to the Francophonie. It is the largest French-speaking country in terms of population with more than 110 million people, surpassing the population of France by more than 40 million.
On the other hand, two other candidates from Romania and Mauritania stand out as consensual options to overcome the crisis, according to the Associated Press.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced on Thursday that North Korean-backed hackers stole more than $400 million using a “highly effective electronic fraud method” based on impersonation and fake video calls using artificial intelligence, according to what was reported by Agence France-Presse.
Earlier this month, the office accused hackers linked to North Korea of stealing six billion dollars from the cryptocurrency platform Binance, charges that Pyongyang denies.
"The North Korean regime relies on proceeds from widespread theft of cryptocurrencies to fund its illicit weapons program, after stealing billions of dollars in recent years," said Brett Leatherman, director of operations in the office's cybercrime division.
The office explained that, apart from the Binance hack, North Korean hackers are “intensively targeting individuals in the cryptocurrency sector and Web 3 technologies, using deception methods based on psychological manipulation.”
This fraudulent operation, which the office called “FaceStealer,” led to the theft of more than $400 million over the past eighteen months.
In this process, hackers impersonate people known to victims to lure them into video meetings, using deepfake clips supported by artificial intelligence to gain their trust.
Then the hackers create a “fake technical malfunction” that prompts the victim to click on a link or message that appears on the screen, which leads to installing malware on his device.
By exploiting victims' contact lists, social media accounts, and messaging apps, hackers are able to impersonate their identities to lure new victims.
Patrick Grande, assistant director of the FBI's Los Angeles office, said: "Face Stealer is an extremely effective electronic fraud method, capable of deceiving even the most experienced computer users and those aware of security risks."
He added: “This method exploits our trust in widespread video conferencing platforms and in our important personal relationships. “If you can’t imagine a scenario in which you might fall victim, it means you aren’t thinking about the possibilities enough.”
The FBI announced that it had confiscated more than 900 video recordings taken via web cameras of victims of the “Face Stealer” operation.
North Korea has made amendments to its constitution that include four major changes, the most notable of which are consolidating its hard-line stance toward South Korea and strengthening leader Kim Jong-un's authority over the country's nuclear forces.
The constitutional document reappeared after an absence of two and a half years, and any commitments to seek reunification with South Korea were deleted from it.
Edward Howell, author of the book “A New Axis of Turbulence: North Korea, Russia, China, and Iran,” told Newsweek magazine on Thursday that the constitutional amendment reflects what has been known for the past three years, which is that North Korea no longer wants to establish any connection with South Korea.
What changed in North Korea's constitution?
North Korea's constitution has remained offline since March 2024, months after Kim declared, during a general party meeting in late 2023, that the two Koreas were separate countries hostile to each other.
According to the South Korean newspaper Korea JoongAng Daily, the document was amended during the first session of the fifteenth session of the Supreme People's Assembly, which was held on March 23.
The newspaper reported that the new constitution is consistent with an amended version obtained by the South Korean Ministry of Unification earlier this year.
The revised document was published online on Wednesday on the Naenara propaganda website, and included four major changes:
1. Redefining the territory of North Korea
Article II of the Constitution was amended to define North Korea's territory as the territory bordered by China and Russia to the north, and South Korea to the south, along with its airspace and waters.
The constitution also stipulates that South Korea is an independent state, without defining clear land or sea borders between the two countries.
The South Korean news site Asiae.kr stated that this wording may represent an attempt to maintain the “two-state” approach, while avoiding the use of phrases that explicitly express hostility or define maritime borders.
Howell, a lecturer and researcher at the British University of Oxford, said: “Pyongyang no longer views Seoul as part of a single, albeit divided, Korean peninsula, and Kim Jong Un’s regime makes clear that South Korea has now become a major and permanent enemy.”
2. Abolishing the idea of reunification
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, with progressive and leftist tendencies, has sought to reduce tensions since taking office last year, stressing his rejection of any forced or “assimilation”-based unification process.
In August of this year, he also called for negotiations aimed at establishing a “peace regime” to replace the armistice agreement that stopped the Korean War in 1953, without officially ending it.
However, the North Korean leader did not adopt this rhetoric, as he stated during the party congress in February that North Korea “has absolutely no business dealing with South Korea.”
During a meeting of the Supreme People's Assembly in January 2024, Kim had issued orders to delete constitutional references describing North Korea as the "northern half" of Korea.
The amended constitution reflects this trend, as phrases such as “peaceful unification” and “national unity” were deleted from it.
Howell noted that shortly after Lee came to power in 2025, Kim Yo Jong, Kim Jong Un's sister, was quick to denounce Seoul's efforts toward reconciliation, describing them as "appeasement attacks."
Howell said: “The constitutional amendment is nothing more than a confirmation of this trend. “Pyongyang wants to send a clear signal to Seoul that North Korea does not care about the current South Korean government’s desire to mend relations.”
3. Strengthening Kim Jong-un’s powers
The English-language website NK News reported that the amended constitution gives Kim the power to veto parliamentary decisions and remove lawmakers who lose “the trust of the people.”
The website added that the preamble to the constitution reduced the focus on the two former leaders, Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, in a move consistent with enhancing the “sanctification of the personality” surrounding Kim Jong Un.
4. Expanding Kim's authority over nuclear forces
In addition to consolidating Kim's role in political life, the amended text gives him, as head of the State Affairs Committee, broader powers related to nuclear forces.
This step comes amid mounting concerns about Pyongyang's nuclear program, following its testing this year of ballistic missile systems and others capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
These tests included testing a medium-range strategic missile, linked to the hypersonic weapons program, on October 3.
