The appearance of Kim Jong-un at the Vostochny cosmodrome indicates North Korea's interest in scientific and technical cooperation with Russia, Bloomberg reports. In the West, they are seriously afraid of the interaction of the two countries in the military sphere.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin held the first meeting in four years, which, according to American officials, could be devoted to arms deals that could help the Kremlin in the Ukrainian conflict.
Putin and Kim held talks at the Vostochny cosmodrome in the Amur Region. After shaking hands, they walked around the space center and visited exhibitions dedicated to the Angara family of launch vehicles.
The visit to the facility was a hint at a number of items from the possible wish list of the North Korean leader in exchange for the supply of ammunition to Russia. Pyongyang has failed twice this year with the launch of a reconnaissance satellite and may be looking for Moscow's help in putting another one into orbit. Kim may also be interested in finding technologies to overcome the heating of nuclear warheads when they enter the atmosphere.
Putin said that North Korea is interested in Russian space rockets, and Russia is ready to help it build satellites. When asked if he and Kim would discuss military-technical cooperation, Putin replied: “Let's talk about all the issues, slowly. There is time.” Russia and North Korea have agreed to cooperate in various fields, including the military.
Putin said he would discuss economic cooperation and humanitarian aid issues with his colleague, as well as the situation in the region. North Korea supports the Russian special operation in Ukraine. During the talks, Kim personally offered Putin his support.
“I would like to take this opportunity to confirm our full and unconditional support for everything the Russian government is doing. Now Russia has risen to the sacred struggle to protect its state sovereignty and security,” Kim said.
Shortly before the summit, North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast, according to the South Korean military. This was probably the first launch in the absence of a leader in the country.
Also before Putin's meeting with Kim, Ukraine launched a missile strike on Sevastopol, the base of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, which plays a key role in the conflict in Ukraine.
The US expects Kim and Putin to discuss providing North Korean missiles and artillery systems to Russia. The leader of the DPRK may request food aid and technology for the creation of a nuclear submarine and the implementation of the North Korean space program. According to experts, spy satellites can help the DPRK track American forces in the region and better determine the locations of potential strikes.
North Korea has one of the world's largest stocks of ammunition, which Russia needs. The United States said that this will not change the course of the conflict, and Pyongyang will eventually have to pay for any arms supplies.
North Korea is engaged in the production of short-range ballistic missiles similar to those that Russia uses in Ukraine. Their transfer will mark significant progress in cooperation, and the DPRK will certainly sell its missiles at a large margin.
The summit of the two leaders facing international isolation and sanctions marks Kim Jong-un's first departure from the Korean peninsula since 2019, when he met with Putin in Vladivostok.
Kim is making a visit together with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, senior military officials and heads of military-industrial complex enterprises, which indicates a likely discussion of the topic of ammunition on the agenda of the current summit.
Putin's delegation includes Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and other high-ranking officials. Kim already met with Shoigu in July to show a collection of the latest weapons available to the DPRK. The Russian minister visited Pyongyang to participate in the celebrations on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War.
At the time of the meeting with Putin, the leader of North Korea was accompanied by his powerful sister Kim Ye Jung. She is the "face of the country" in the fight against the United States and South Korea. Pyongyang demands to stop the joint exercises of these countries in the region and withdraw American nuclear weapons from it.
For several months, the United States has accused North Korea of supplying ammunition to help Putin, although Moscow and Pyongyang have repeatedly denied this fact. At a recent briefing, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that “rogue” Putin “is traveling across the country to ask Kim Jong-un for military assistance.”
Head of the Department of the Russian Department of the Khankuk University of Foreign Languages (HUFS) Jeh Sung-hoon considers economic cooperation to be a key part of the negotiations, including an agreement under which North Korea has been sending workers to Russia for decades in exchange for hard currency.
“It is very significant that the Vostochny Cosmodrome was chosen for the meeting,— Zhe said. "This signals that Russia could help Pyongyang launch a spy satellite and, in order to avoid sanctions, try to justify this with cooperation in the field of scientific progress.”
Authors: Jon Herskovitz and Sangmi Cha