A file photo of Russian President Vladimir Putin meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vladivostok, Russia, on April 25, 2019.
Mikhail Svetlov | Getty Images News | Getty Images
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is expected to arrive in Russia on Tuesday with military officials who control nuclear-capable weapons and munitions factories, where he is expected to hold an unusual meeting with President Vladimir Putin. This has raised concerns in the West about possible arms deliveries. Moscow’s agreement on the war in Ukraine.
North Korea’s state news agency said Kim boarded a private train from the capital Pyongyang on Sunday afternoon, accompanied by unspecified members of the country’s ruling party, government and military.
South Korean Defense Ministry spokesperson Chung Ha-kyu said at a press conference that the South Korean military had determined that Kim’s train entered Russia early Tuesday morning. He did not elaborate on how the military obtained the information.
North Korean state media showed photos of Kim walking in front of an honor guard and crowds of civilians carrying national flags and flowers, as well as waving from a green and yellow armored train before leaving a station. A photo of Mr. Kim was posted. In addition to Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, Kim’s delegation is likely to include military leaders such as Field Marshal Ri Byeong-cheol and Field Marshal Park Jeong-chon, the commanders of the Korean People’s Army.
The Korean Central News Agency said a group of senior officials were at the station to give the leader a “heartfelt farewell” but did not say whether the train had crossed the border. Japan’s TBS reported, citing unidentified Russian regional officials, that Kim’s train had crossed the border and arrived in the border town of Khasan.
A brief statement posted on the Kremlin’s website on Monday said the visit was at Putin’s invitation and would take place “in the coming days.” KCNA announced that the leaders would meet without specifying the date, time or location.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin and Kim would lead a delegation to the meeting and could also meet “one-on-one if necessary.” He added that President Putin will host a state dinner for Chairman Kim.
Peskov said the talks would focus on bilateral relations. “Like other neighboring countries, we feel we have an obligation to build good and mutually beneficial relations,” he added.
According to Russia’s TASS news agency, the possible venue is the eastern Russian city of Vladivostok, where Putin arrived on Monday to attend an international forum that runs until Wednesday. The city, about 425 miles (680 kilometers) north of Pyongyang, is also where Putin had his first meeting with Kim in 2019.
The visit will be Kim’s first overseas trip since the coronavirus pandemic, which has forced North Korea to maintain strict border controls for more than three years to protect its poor health care system. Mr. Kim has indicated he is more comfortable flying than his father, who is famously averse to flying, but his previous meetings with President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and former U.S. President Donald Trump have He also used private trains to revive symbols of his family’s dynastic rule. .
Associated Press reporters near the North Korean-Russian border saw a train station on the North Korean side of the border river with the same yellow trim used by the reclusive Kim during previous trips abroad. I saw a green train.
The train was seen moving back and forth between the station and the approach to the bridge connecting the two countries, but had not crossed the bridge as of 7pm local time (10pm Japan time).
The Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported, citing unnamed South Korean government officials, that a meeting between Kim and Putin could take place as early as Tuesday.
Yonhap News and other media outlets also published similar reports. South Korea’s presidential office, Ministry of Defense, and National Intelligence Service did not immediately confirm these details.
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U.S. officials last week released information that North Korea and Russia were coordinating talks between their leaders as they expand cooperation in the face of deepening conflict with the United States.
President Putin will secure more supplies of North Korean artillery and other ammunition to replenish dwindling stockpiles in a bid to quell Ukraine’s counterattack and demonstrate its ability to break up a prolonged war of attrition, U.S. officials said. It is possible to focus on that. This could put even more pressure on the United States and its partners to move ahead with negotiations, amid growing concerns about a protracted conflict despite significant shipments of advanced weapons to Ukraine over the past 17 months.
White House National Security Council Press Secretary Adrian Watson said, using the abbreviation for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, that arms talks between Russia and North Korea continued during Kim Jong Un’s visit to Russia. It is expected that this will continue.” “We call on North Korea to honor its commitment not to provide or sell arms to Russia.”
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the United States would closely monitor the talks and that “any arms transfer from North Korea to Russia would be a violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions.” “We will not hesitate to impose new sanctions,” he said, reminding both countries. Sanctions. ”
Analysts say North Korea has tens of millions of artillery shells and rockets based on Soviet designs that could give the Russian military significant leverage.
In return, Kim could seek much-needed energy and food aid, as well as advanced weapons technology such as intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear-capable ballistic missile submarines, and military surveillance satellites. says the analyst.
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There are concerns that the potential Russian technology transfer could increase the threat posed by Kim Jong Un’s growing arsenal of nuclear weapons and missiles targeting the United States, South Korea and Japan. Photos from North Korean state media show that Kim’s delegation may include Park Tae-song, chairman of North Korea’s Space Science and Technology Commission, and Navy Admiral Kim Myong-sik, who are It is related to North Korea’s efforts to acquire spy satellites and nuclear submarines.
Kim Jong-un is also likely to bring Cho Chun-ryong, a senior ruling party official in charge of military policy, who accompanied Kim Jong-un on his recent visits to artillery and missile manufacturing factories.
After decades of a fraught, cold and fraught relationship, Russia and North Korea have grown closer since Russian forces invaded Ukraine in 2022. This bond has been driven by President Putin’s need to support the war and Kim Jong-un’s efforts to raise the profile of the partnership. It is working with traditional allies Moscow and China as it seeks to break its diplomatic isolation and bring North Korea into a united front against the United States.
North Korea uses the distraction from the Ukraine conflict to step up its weapons development, while claiming that Western countries’ “hegemonic policies” justify Russia’s attack on Ukraine to protect itself, and denying the cause of the Ukraine crisis. He has repeatedly criticized the United States.
North Korea is the only country other than Russia and Syria to recognize the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk, two Russian-backed separatist regions in eastern Ukraine, and also to support reconstruction efforts. They have indicated interest in sending construction workers to these areas.
Russia, along with China, has blocked a U.S.-led effort at the United Nations Security Council to tighten sanctions on North Korea over escalating missile tests and escalated tensions with North Korea by expanding military exercises with South Korea and Japan. He accused the United States of making things worse.
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Since last year, the United States has accused North Korea of supplying Russia with weapons such as artillery shells that were sold to the Russian mercenary group Wagner. Both Russian and North Korean officials denied such claims. However, speculation about military cooperation between the two countries increased after Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made an unusual visit to North Korea in July. On that occasion, Kim Jong-un invited him to a weapons exhibition and large-scale military parade in the capital, where he unveiled an intercontinental ballistic missile aimed at the United States. main land.
After that visit, Kim toured North Korea’s weapons factories, including facilities that produce artillery systems, and appealed to workers there to accelerate the development and large-scale production of new munitions. Experts say Kim’s factory visit likely had the dual purpose of promoting the modernization of North Korea’s weapons and inspecting artillery and other materials that could be exported to Russia. There is.
Some analysts say a potential meeting between Kim and Putin would be more about symbolic gains than substantive military cooperation.
Russia has always closely guarded its most important weapons technology, even with a major ally like China, but only a limited number of weapons are likely to be transported on the small rail network between the two countries. China may be reluctant to engage in large-scale technology transfers with North Korea for military supplies. , they say.