Putin travels 9,000 kilometers – just to meet Kim Sick American researcher rescued from cave in Turkey after nine days

It is a strange meeting: one person has to travel 9,000 kilometers through his own country to meet the dictator of a country a hundred times smaller. The other spends several days in his special armored train because he feels safer there than in an airplane.

But no matter how strange the trappings of this summit between Russia and North Korea may be, the matter is quite serious: the meeting in Vladivostok in the Russian Far East will focus primarily on one topic: Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. The US suspects Russia of using the date to buy North Korean weapons and ammunition. It would be a violation of the international taboo, which could further escalate the war.

Moscow and Pyongyang deny the accusation, but experts say the deal may already be over. There had already been several diplomatic contacts in advance and there were indications that North Korea was planning a large arms shipment to Russia. But which North Korean weapons could actually help Russia in its invasion? What can Putin offer Kim in return? And how would the West react if this ill-fated deal happened? The overview of the Kim-Putin summit:

What does Kim have to offer Putin?

North Korea could supply the KN-23 short-range missile to Russia, South Korean analyst and journalist Ifang Bremer told “ZDFheute”. The Russian military could use the missiles in the war in Ukraine without major adjustments to its own weapons systems.

A supply of ammunition for Russian artillery pieces and battle tanks would also be conceivable, says Bremer: “152 to 122 millimeter projectiles for the artillery and 100 to 150 millimeters for the tanks from the Soviet era, which Russia is currently still using in Ukraine.”

Joseph Dempsey of the think tank International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) also thinks that a deal could mainly relate to the supply of artillery ammunition: “North Korea probably has the largest stocks of old artillery shells from the Soviet era, which are used to transport by Ukraine “Russian supplies depleted by the conflict could be replenished,” Dempsey told AFP news agency.

However, the more modern North Korean weapons are less suitable for the Russian armyDempsey said. It is also unclear whether these can be produced in larger quantities. According to the US government, North Korea supplied rocket launchers and rockets to Russia’s Wagner mercenaries last year. Pyongyang denies this.

“If Russia can get more advanced weapons from North Korea at lower prices, there is no reason why Moscow wouldn’t do so,” South Korean defense expert Yang Uk told the Financial Times.

Kim advertises weapons of war on state television

In the run-up to the trip, Kim had apparently been promoting his arms industry: In August, he visited five munitions factories within a week, as well as manufacturers of drone engines and missiles, the Financial Times reports. Kim called for a national show of force: engineers and officials were ordered to ramp up weapons production, from intercontinental ballistic missiles to cruise missiles and assault rifles.

The national defense industry’s promotional tour was broadcast nationally by North Korean state television, the US newspaper said. “Kim is trying to promote his arms industry abroad” by demonstrating his production facilities to potential customers, defense expert Yang Uk told the Financial Times.

The message to the West could also be that North Korea, despite international sanctions, is capable of developing modern high-tech weapons on a scale that the country can even produce for export. The regime has already proven this in recent days when it presented its first nuclear-capable submarine, ‘Hero Kim Kun Ok’.

What can Putin offer Kim in return?

Russia has a lot that impoverished North Korea could use. The West has imposed tough sanctions on the country over its nuclear and missile programs, and Pyongyang has limited access to imported goods. In addition to food and fertilizer for the starving population, as well as gas and oil, North Korea could also be interested in key technologies and “production capabilities for the further development of the North Korean defense industry,” according to military analyst Dempsey.

A UN report last year spoke of a North Korean diplomat in Moscow who had acquired ballistic missile technology and was also trying to obtain 3,000 kilos of steel for submarines. Putin could provide Kim with additional missile technology and key industrial materials.

Putin and Kim: rapprochement only in recent years

The relationship between the two countries has not always been close in recent decades. Moscow has been a close ally of North Korea since its founding 75 years ago and a key supporter of the isolated country for decades. However, the Soviet Union reduced the flow of money when North Korea began to reconcile with South Korea in the 1980s. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 hit North Korea hard and bilateral relations stagnated.

The long history of weapons cooperation with the Soviet Union is also reflected in the fact that many North Korean missile and weapon systems closely resemble or even copy Soviet-era weapons. The aforementioned KN-23 short-range missile from North Korea resembles the Russian Iskander system, writes the Financial Times. Iskander missiles are also used in the war in Ukraine, for example in terrorist attacks on Ukrainian cities.

Only in the 2000s did relations between Russia and North Korea blossom again: a first summit meeting took place in 2000. Putin and then ruler Kim Jong Il mainly deepened economic cooperation at the time. Kim’s son Kim Jong Un finally made his first official visit to Russia in 2019. Since then, relations between the two countries have strengthened. From the beginning, Kim supported Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.

The US warns against arms deals – and threatens sanctions

UN Security Council resolutions, which Moscow also agreed to, ban arms trade with Pyongyang. The US, Britain, South Korea and Japan made it clear that an agreement between Russia and North Korea would violate these resolutions. Washington has already threatened both countries with further sanctions if an arms deal is reached.

“Any transfer of weapons from North Korea to Russia would violate multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions,” U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Monday. It was a “sign of Putin’s weakness” that he had to negotiate with Kim at all, Miller said, adding wryly: “I would describe it as ‘begging for help’ – considering he has to travel through his own country .” To meet an international pariah and ask for his support in a war he thought he had won in the first month.”

To circumvent the Security Council resolution and avoid further sanctions, Kim and Putin will probably make a deal ‘behind closed doors’, North Korea expert Cheong of the Sejong Institute suspects. If North Korea and Russia begin arms deliveries, it will be the “responsibility of the international community” to hold the two states accountable, Cheong said.

(t-online, afp, dm)