Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shake hands during their meeting at the Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Tsiolkovsky, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from large Blagoveshchensk in the easternmost Amur region, Russia, on Wednesday, September 13, 2023.
Vladimir Smirnov/AP
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Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shake hands during their meeting at the Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Tsiolkovsky, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from large Blagoveshchensk in the easternmost Amur region, Russia, on Wednesday, September 13, 2023.
Vladimir Smirnov/AP
SEOUL, South Korea – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed support for a “direct fight” with Russia at a summit with President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday that the US warned could lead to an arms deal over for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
After visiting launch pads with Putin at a remote space base in Russia’s Far East, Kim expressed “full and unconditional support” and said Pyongyang would always stand with Moscow on the front line “anti-imperialist”.
The leaders met at the Vostochny Cosmodrome for a summit that confirms how their interests align in the face of a different, intense conflict with the United States. The talks lasted four to five hours, after which Kim left, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported.
North Korea may have tens of millions of artillery shells and rockets based on Soviet designs that could give Russia’s military a major boost in Ukraine, analysts say.
The decision to meet at the Cosmodrome, Russia’s most important launch site on its own soil, suggests that Kim is seeking Russian help in developing military reconnaissance satellites, which he has said is essential to strengthen the threat of its nuclear missiles. In recent months, North Korea has again failed to put its first military spy satellite into orbit.
But either buying weapons from or providing rocket technology to North Korea would violate international sanctions that Russia has supported in the past.
Putin greeted Kim’s limousine, which was brought from Pyongyang in the North Korean leader’s special military train, at the entrance to the launch facility with a handshake that lasted about 40 seconds. In his opening remarks, Putin welcomed Kim to Russia and said he was happy to see him, adding that the talks would cover economic cooperation, humanitarian issues and the “situation in the region”.
Kim, in turn, expressed support for Moscow’s efforts to protect its interests, in an apparent reference to the war in Ukraine. “Russia is currently engaged in direct combat against hegemonic forces to protect its sovereign rights, security and interests,” the North Korean leader said. “I take this opportunity to confirm that we will always standing with Russia on the anti-imperialist front and on the front of independence.”
The two men began their meeting with a tour of the Soyuz-2 space rocket launch facility, where Kim asked a Russian space official questions about the rockets.
Kim and Putin then met together with their representatives and later one-on-one, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. After the talks, the Russian president threw Kim an official lunch, Russian state media reported.
The meeting came hours after North Korea fired two ballistic missiles toward the sea, extending a highly provocative run of North Korean weapons testing since the start of 2022, as Kim used the attention caused by Putin’s war on Ukraine to speed up his military development.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff did not immediately say how far the North Korean missiles flew. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the missiles landed in waters outside the country’s exclusive economic zones and there were no reports of damage to ships or aircraft.
Official photos showed Pak Thae Song, chairman of North Korea’s space science and technology committee, and Professor Kim Myong Sik, who are linked to North Korea’s efforts to acquire spy satellites and nuclear-capable ballistic missile submarines. , according to Kim. to the Ministry of the Union of South Korea.
Asked if Russia would help North Korea build satellites, Putin was quoted by Russian state media as saying “that’s why we came here. The leader of the DPRK shows great interest in rocket technology. They are trying to develop space as well,” using the abbreviation for North Korea’s formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. When asked about military cooperation, Putin said “we will talk about -all matters without haste. There is time.”
Kim also brought Jo Chun Ryong, a ruling party official in charge of military policies, who joined him on recent visits to factories making artillery shells and missiles, according to South Korea.
Despite North Korea’s recent spate of missile launches, Wednesday’s launch on the eve of the summit was a surprise. South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said it was the first time the North had launched a missile while Kim was traveling abroad.
Kim may have launched the order to send a point to Putin about North Korea’s defense posture and show that he remains in close control of the country’s military operations even while he is abroad, Moon said. Seong Mook, an analyst with the Seoul-based Korea Research Institute for National Strategy.
Moon, a retired South Korean brigadier general who has participated in past inter-Korean military talks, said the North’s launches could be the expected to express his anger to the United States, after State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a press release that Putin was meeting with an “international pariah to ask for help in a war.”
The United States has accused North Korea of supplying weapons to Russia, including selling artillery shells to the Russian mercenary group Wagner. Both Russian and North Korean officials denied these claims.
Speculation about military cooperation grew after Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited North Korea in July. Kim later visited his weapons factories, which experts said had the dual purpose of promoting North Korea’s military modernization and examining artillery and other materials that could be exported to the country. Russia.
