Putin accepts Kim invite to visit North Korea

The United States is worried that a restored Moscow-Pyongyang axis may strengthen Russia’s military in Ukraine and provide Kim Jong Un access to critical missile technology. This is why Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed Kim Jong Un’s offer to visit North Korea.

The invitation was extended during a summit in eastern Russia when they talked about the war in Ukraine, military issues, and supporting North Korea’s satellite programmes.

After Kim, 39, was shown around Russia’s most cutting-edge space launch facility by Putin, 70, and they had talks with their respective defence ministries, the two leaders toasted their relationship with Russian wine and used the term “comrades” to refer to one another.

“At the end of the reception, Kim Jong Un courteously invited Putin to visit the DPRK at a convenient time,” KCNA said, referring to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s formal name.

The invitation was “gratefully” accepted, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, and Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister, will visit Pyongyang in October. Putin has not made many international trips since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

The growing friendship between Kim and Putin worries the United States and its allies. Although North Korea has been charged by Washington with selling weapons to Russia, it is unknown whether any shipments have actually taken place.

Both Russia and North Korea have refuted these assertions while pledging to strengthen their defence cooperation. Sergei Shoigu, the defence minister, was shown prohibited ballistic missiles by Kim during a trip to North Korea in July.

Kim is due on Thursday to visit military and civilian aviation factories in the Russian city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur and to inspect Russia’s Pacific fleet in Vladivostok, Putin said.

North Korea and Russia would “pay a price” if they disobeyed United Nations Security Council resolutions, according to the National Security Council of South Korea (NSC) on Thursday.

Kim on Wednesday salute to Putin’s health, the triumph of “great Russia,” and the friendship between Korea and Russia while eating a lavish lunch of Russian “pelmeni” dumplings filled with Kamchatka crab, white Amur fish soup, and sturgeon. Kim also predicts that Moscow will win its “sacred fight” with the West.

The Soviet Union assisted in the founding of North Korea in September 1948, and during the Cold War, Moscow continued to help the country for many years. However, after the Soviet Union’s demise in 1991, Moscow’s assistance for North Korea waned.

Although Pyongyang’s authorities have frequently attempted to strike a balance between relations with both Moscow and Beijing, China has been perceived as the country with the most influence over Kim in recent years.

In July 2000, shortly after succeeding Boris Yeltsin, Putin travelled to Pyongyang to meet with Kim Jong Il, the grandfather of Kim Jong Un.

How far Putin would go to satisfy North Korea’s technological wish lists remained unclear at the summit on Wednesday.

Russia has increased shell production amid the artillery conflicts in Ukraine, but a North Korean supply route would be helpful.

It is thought that North Korea has a sizable stockpile of rockets and artillery rounds that can be used with weaponry from the Soviet era.

When asked if Russia could just lift the sanctions against North Korea, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded that the country was still a responsible UN Security Council member.

Moscow will, however, advance its relations with North Korea in accordance with its own interests, Peskov added.

According to the U.S. State Department, the Biden administration “won’t hesitate” to put further sanctions on North Korea and Russia should they reach any new arms agreements.

Because Washington has sowed turmoil and delivered weaponry to allies around the world, Russian diplomats claimed it was hypocritical of the United States to oppose the summit.

“The United States has no right to lecture us on how to live,” Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, said in a statement.

(With agency inputs)