Kim Jong-un’s Diplomatic Visit to Russia Amid Looming US Sanctions
For a rare summit with Vladimir Putin to explore the possibility of providing North Korea with armaments for the conflict in Ukraine, Kim Jong-un has traveled to Moscow on his armored train.
According to an unknown Russian government source quoted by the Japanese Kyodo news agency on Tuesday, the train landed at Khasan station, which serves as North Korea’s primary rail connection to Russia’s Far East.
Kim may meet Putin on Wednesday in the Russian port city of Vladivostok, where Putin has already arrived, reportedly accompanied by senior military and arms industry personnel. He said that neither leader intended to hold a news conference and suggested that Kim and Putin might meet after the event.
Senior government officials, including military people, were with Kim, according to the official KCNA news agency of North Korea.
His foreign minister Choe Son-hui and important party figures in charge of military and defense issues, including the director of the munitions production department Jo Chun-ryong, are reportedly among the delegation.
As he stepped onto the green and yellow train, there were military honor guards and throngs of people waving flowers and flags while wearing dark suits and bright costumes.
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North Korean Artillery and Munitions Trade
Kim will be traveling for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic and her first international vacation in more than four years.
American experts predict that as he tries to halt a Ukrainian counteroffensive, Putin will concentrate on obtaining more North Korean artillery and other munitions.
Kim might ask for oil and food assistance in exchange, as well as advanced satellite and nuclear-powered submarine technology that might heighten the threat presented by North Korea’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs.
But, other observers think that in exchange for a finite amount of artillery shells and other munitions, Russia would be unwilling to divulge specifics of its tightly guarded weapon technology.
The US would be more worried about a lengthy confrontation in Ukraine if North Korean artillery shells and anti-tank missiles were secured in large quantities.
The US State Department warned again on Monday that any arms purchase may result in US penalties and characterized Putin as desperate over the conflict in Ukraine. Neither the meeting’s location nor Kim’s attendance at the economic forum have been confirmed.
There are worries in the west that Pyongyang intends to give Moscow weaponry to replenish supplies that have been severely depleted during the 18-month conflict in Ukraine.
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Source: Newsbreak
