Kim Jong Un meets Putin in Russia as North Korea launches missiles

As they met on Wednesday at a cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East, President Vladimir Putin declared that Russia will assist North Korea in launching satellites and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un assured Moscow of his complete support in its “sacred fight” with the West. When questioned about whether the two leaders would discuss acquiring supplies from the North to restock Moscow’s depleting supply of weaponry and ammunition during the summit at the Vostochny Cosmodrome space station, Putin responded that they would address “all issues.” “That’s why we came here,” Putin said when reporters asked whether Russia would help Kim build satellites. “The leader of the DPRK shows great interest in rocket engineering; they are also trying to develop space.” The official name of North Korea is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK. Kim stated North Korea’s unshakeable resolve to further strengthen its longstanding friendship and ties with Russia at the beginning of the meeting with Putin at the shiny new space station. “I find it an honour that the president has prepared an opportunity to meet at a special environment at the launch station which is the heart of your position as a space superpower and given us a deep understanding of the way forward,” Kim said. Kim also told Putin the Kremlin chief had his full backing in the “sacred fight” Moscow is waging “against the hegemonic forces”. “We will always support the decisions of President Putin and the Russian leadership… and we will be together in the fight against imperialism,” Kim told Putin, speaking via an interpreter. Washington and its allies are closely monitoring the summit between the leaders of the two countries, which have grown further apart from the rest of the world and may decide to trade arms and defence technologies. Officials from the United States and South Korea have expressed fear that Kim would give arms and ammunition to Russia, which has depleted its supplies in the more than 18-month-long war in Ukraine. Such objectives have been refuted by Moscow and Pyongyang. Given North Korea’s two failed attempts to launch spy satellites in the previous four months, it was significant that the meeting was held at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, a representation of Russia’s aspirations to become a space power. “I am glad to see you,” Putin said earlier as he welcomed Kim at Vostochny Cosmodrome, a modern space launch facility in the Amur region of Russia’s Far East. “This is our new cosmodrome.” Kim has made it a top priority to launch a spy satellite, while pushing his nuclear-armed country to step up the development of ballistic missiles, drones and attack submarines. Ahead of his meeting with Putin, Kim signed the visitor book in Korean: “The glory to Russia, which gave birth to the first space conquerors, will be immortal.” Television footage showed Putin giving Kim a tour of the facility including the building where the Angara, Russia’s new space launch rocket, is assembled. The 42.7-metre booster launches payloads into low Earth orbit. Shortly before the summit, North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles from an area near the capital, Pyongyang, into the sea off its east coast. It was the first such launch by the North while Kim was abroad, analysts said, demonstrating an increased level of delegation and more refined control systems for the country’s nuclear and missile programmes. Kim had made just seven trips abroad in his 12 years in power, all in 2018 and 2019. He also briefly stepped across the inter-Korean border twice. After the summit, Putin and Kim had lunch on crab dumplings, sturgeon and beef with Russian wine, where Kim proposed a toast to Putin’s health and said he was confident the Russian army and people would triumph against “evil”. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the two countries cooperate in “sensitive” areas, including military cooperation but it is not targeted at other countries and they should not be concerned about Russia’s ties with North Korea. Kim arrived in Russia by private train on Tuesday with top defence industry and military aides and said his visit highlighted the “strategic importance” of the two countries’ ties, the North’s state news agency KCNA reported on Wednesday. Analysts noted that the composition of Kim’s delegation and the prominent participation of Director of the Munitions industrial Department Jo Chun Ryong signalled a heavy emphasis on military industrial cooperation for the agenda. Kim might offer artillery rounds from North Korea’s sizable stockpile, which would restore Russia’s short-term capabilities, but military analysts warned that concerns about the ammunition’s quality might limit the overall impact. Such a deal would contravene U.N. Security Council resolutions, South Korea and the United States have warned, and Russia voted to adopt those resolutions as a permanent member of the council. Putin promised last week to “expand bilateral ties in all respects in a planned way by pooling efforts” because North Korea is one of the few nations that has publicly backed Russia in the Ukraine war. (With agency inputs)