Putin discusses military matters, Ukraine war with N Korea’s Kim Jong Un

On Wednesday, Kim Jong Un and Putin had a rare summit in which they discussed military problems, the conflict in Ukraine, and the possibility of Russian assistance for North Korea’s satellite development.

Putin took Kim on a tour of Russia’s Far Eastern space rocket launch pad, where the two leaders discussed the potential launch of a North Korean cosmonaut. Kim, who had travelled by train from North Korea, toured the Vostochny Cosmodrome with Putin, who patiently answered his many questions about rockets.

Following the tour, Putin, 70, and Kim, 39, met for bilateral talks with their ministers and then enjoyed a lavish lunch of Russian “pelmeni” dumplings stuffed with Kamchatka crab and sturgeon with mushrooms and potatoes.

Kim predicted that Moscow will prevail in its “sacred fight” with the West over the Ukraine conflict, and he raised a glass of Russian wine to Putin’s health, the victory of “great Russia,” and the relationship between Korea and Russia.

Kim said Putin, “I firmly believe that the heroic Russian army and people will brilliantly inherit their victories and traditions and vigorously demonstrate their noble dignity and honour on the two fronts of military operations and building a powerful nation.”

The expansionist fantasy will be shattered, and Kim raises his glass to toast the Russian army and people, who he is confident will triumph in the “sacred struggle” to punish the “great evil” responsible for it.

U.S. and South Korean officials are worried that Kim may supply Russia with weapons and ammunition, despite Russia having depleted massive stores over the course of more than 18 months of fighting in Ukraine.

Russia and North Korea both say they have no such plans.

Putin dropped a lot of suggestions about military cooperation, but didn’t provide many specifics. Sergei Shoigu, Minister of Defence, participated in the discussions. The Kremlin claimed that dialogue between neighbours about delicate issues should be kept between them.

Russian journalists were granted extensive access at the summit, and they questioned Putin if Russia will assist Kim construct satellites. Putin responded, “That’s why we came here.”

It was unknown how far Putin was willing to go in fulfilling any North Korean wishes for technology, but for Russia, the summit was an opportunity to poke the United States, the major power supporter of Ukraine.

Putin stated that Kim intended to tour Russia’s Pacific fleet in Vladivostok and military and commercial aviation companies in the Russian city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur.

According to the Kremlin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will travel to Pyongyang next month for further negotiations.

For the first time since the UN began sanctioning Pyongyang in 2006, the Security Council has taken action.

Putin responded to a question on military cooperation by saying that Russia abided by international rules but that opportunity existed to further investigate these rules.

Given that North Korea has twice failed to launch surveillance satellites in the past four months, the decision to have the meeting at Vostochny Cosmodrome, a symbol of Russia’s ambitions as a space power, was remarkable.

Putin said Kim showed a “great interest in rocket engineering” after touring him around the facility where the Angara, Russia’s new 42.7-meter space launch rocket, is constructed.

Kim penned these words in Korean before meeting with Putin: “The glory to Russia, which gave birth to the first space conquerors, will be immortal.”

SHOCK WARFARE

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast as Kim made his way through the Russian forest on a train.

According to experts, this marked a new level of delegation and sophisticated control mechanisms for the country’s nuclear and missile programmes, as it was the first such launch by the North while Kim was away.

Before 2018, Kim has only made seven travels outside of North Korea during his entire 12 years in leadership. He crossed the border between the two Koreas twice for brief periods of time.
Analysts speculated that Kim would prioritise defence sector cooperation during his visit to Russia based on the composition of his delegation, which included the director of the Munitions sector Department.

There is a saying in Korea that goes something like, “New clothes are good clothes, but old friends are great friends. Putin reportedly told Kim, “Our people say: an old friend is better than two new ones.”