Russia had no plans to sign any deals during North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's visit, the Kremlin said. But the simple presence of the head of another of the countries most sanctioned by the West has fueled the fear over the last two weeks that Moscow and Pyongyang will take their friendship to the military and to Ukraine. In fact, the North Korean leader spent yesterday getting to know the most modern weapons on Russian warships and combat aircraft.
The day began like many others since he crossed the Russian border on Monday: disembarking from his armored train, the traditional way of traveling in North Korea's ruling family that was inaugurated by his grandfather, Kim Il-sung. He was received with honors at the station in the city of Artyom, 38 kilometers from Vladivostok, by regional authorities and a group of children who greeted him in Korean. Then, an official car, a caravan with the entire entourage, traffic jams in the city that, according to the newspaper RBK, suffered the inhabitants of several districts of Vladivostok, and a guard of honor.
At the Knevichi airfield, the Russian Minister of Defense, Sergey Xoigu, was waiting for him, who showed his guest Tu-160, Tu-95MS and Tu-22M3 strategic bombers. The three planes are part of the air component of Russia's strategic nuclear forces, the Russian Defense Ministry recalled. Xoigu also let him see one of the Kremlin's prides in military technology: hypersonic Kinzhal (dagger) missiles, capable of carrying nuclear or conventional warheads, deployed on a Mig-31I fighter.
Hours later, Shoigu accompanied Kim to Vladivostok on the frigate Marshal Shapoishnikov. The head of the Russian Navy, Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, explained to him the characteristics of the anti-submarine weapons of this warship, "quadruple torpedo tubes and RBU-6000 missile launchers", indicated Tass.
The most important day of this trip, Kim's first after the covid pandemic, was Wednesday. That day he held a summit with the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, who received him at the Vostochny Cosmodrome. There, they talked about military issues or the conflict in Ukraine.
Some Western countries ordered Moscow and Pyongyang not to agree on the supply of North Korean ammunition; they fear that the Russians will use it in this dispute. The New York Times had reported a week earlier that North Korea would ask Russia for advanced technology for satellites and nuclear submarines in return. Washington asked Moscow to comply with UN resolutions and sanctions on Pyongyang. The criticism of the US was joined by, among others, the United Kingdom and South Korea.
Putin assured on Wednesday that Russia "will not violate anything", but that it continues to develop its relations with North Korea. His spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, added that Russia is "a responsible member of the UN Security Council," and said no formal agreement was planned to be signed.
Another thing is the geopolitical significance of this visit. Kim said he supports "all decisions" of Putin and said he will stand with him "in the fight against imperialism" of the West.
But the agenda of the North Korean leader was not only filled with weapons yesterday. Kim enjoyed the local cuisine. At lunch, according to Tass, he could taste "fish soup from the Far East with mustard and rosemary, lamb or halibut on a pear base with truffle sauce".
And in the afternoon he went to the Mariinsky Theater in Vladivostok, where he attended a performance of Tchaikovsky's ballet The Sleeping Beauty. After the performance, the regional governor, Oleg Kojemiako, stated that Kim will still be in Russia on Sunday. In addition to a meeting between the two, he still has to "visit the University of the Far East and facilities of the Russian Academy of Sciences", as Putin announced on Wednesday.
