North Korea바카라 게임 웹사이트s Kim is in Russia to meet Putin, as both are locked in standoffs with the West
North Korea바카라 게임 웹사이트s Kim Jong Un arrived in Russia on Tuesday for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin where they are expected to offer each other increased support in their escalating standoffs with the West.
Kim is expected to seek Russian economic aid and military technology in exchange for munitions to be used in Russia바카라 게임 웹사이트s war in Ukraine.
After decades of complicated, hot-and-cold relations, Russia and North Korea have drawn closer since Moscow바카라 게임 웹사이트s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The bond has been driven by Putin바카라 게임 웹사이트s need for war supplies and Kim바카라 게임 웹사이트s efforts to boost his partnerships with traditional allies Moscow and Beijing as he tries to break out of diplomatic isolation.
North Korea바카라 게임 웹사이트s official Korean Central 온라인 바카라 게임 Agency said Kim boarded his personal train bound for Russia on Sunday afternoon, accompanied by members of the ruling party, government and military.
His final destination is uncertain. Many had assumed Kim and Putin would meet in Vladisvostok, a Russian city close to the border where the two leaders had their last meeting in 2019, and which Putin is visiting this week for an economic forum.
But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed only that Kim has entered Russia, and state news agency RIA-Novosti later reported his train had headed north after crossing the Razdolnaya River, taking it away from Vladivostok. The South Korean news agency Yonhap later published a photo that it said showed the train in Ussuriysk, a city about 60 kilometers north of Vladivostok that has a sizeable ethnic Korean population.
Some Russian news media speculate that he is headed for the Vostochny spaceport, which Putin is to visit soon. Putin declined during the forum to say what he intended to do there. The launching facility is about 550 miles northwest of Ussuriysk, but the route there is circuitous and it is unclear how long Kim's slow-moving train would take to get there.
Peskov said Putin and Kim will meet after the Vladivostok forum, and that the meeting would include a lunch in Kim바카라 게임 웹사이트s honor.
Officials identified in North Korean state media photos may hint at what Kim might seek from Putin and what he would be willing to give.
Kim is apparently accompanied by Jo Chun Ryong, a ruling party official in charge of munitions policies who joined the leader on recent tours of factories producing artillery shells and missiles, said South Korea바카라 게임 웹사이트s Unification Ministry. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu will be part of the Russian delegation, according to Peskov.
North Korea may have tens of millions of artillery shells and rockets based on Soviet designs that could give a huge boost to the Russian army in Ukraine, analysts say.
Also identified in photos were Pak Thae Song, chairman of North Korea바카라 게임 웹사이트s space science and technology committee, and Navy Adm. Kim Myong Sik, who are linked with North Korean efforts to acquire spy satellites and nuclear-capable ballistic missile submarines. Experts say North Korea would struggle to acquire such capabilities without external help, although it바카라 게임 웹사이트s not clear if Russia would share such sensitive technologies.
Kim Jong Un may also seek badly needed energy and food supplies, analysts say. Deputy foreign minister Andrei Rudenko said Russia may discuss humanitarian aid with the North Korean delegation, according to Russian news agencies.
Kim바카라 게임 웹사이트s delegation also likely includes his foreign minister, Choe Sun Hui, and his top two military officials, Korean People바카라 게임 웹사이트s Army Marshals Ri Pyong Chol and Pak Jong Chon.
Data from , which tracks flights worldwide, showed an Air Koryo Antonov An-148 took off from Pyongyang on Tuesday and flew for about an hour to reach Vladivostok. North Korea바카라 게임 웹사이트s national airline has only just resumed flying internationally after being grounded during the COVID-19 pandemic. There had been speculation that North Korea could use a plane to fly in support staff.
Kim is making his first foreign trip since the pandemic, during which North Korea imposed tight border controls for more than three years.
Lim Soo-suk, South Korea's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said Seoul was maintaining communication with Moscow while closely monitoring Kim's visit.
바카라 게임 웹사이트No U.N. member state should violate Security Council sanctions against North Korea by engaging in an illegal trade of arms, and must certainly not engage in military cooperation with North Korea that undermines the peace and stability of the international community,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Lim said during a briefing.
U.S. officials released intelligence last week that North Korea and Russia were arranging a meeting between their leaders.
According to U.S. officials, Putin could focus on and other ammunition to refill declining reserves as he seeks to rebuff a Ukrainian counteroffensive and show that he바카라 게임 웹사이트s capable of grinding out a long war of attrition. That could potentially put more pressure on the U.S. and its partners to pursue negotiations as concerns over a protracted conflict grow despite their huge shipments of advanced weaponry to Ukraine in the past 17 months.
바카라 게임 웹사이트Arms discussions between Russia and the DPRK are expected to continue during Kim Jong Un바카라 게임 웹사이트s trip to Russia,바카라 게임 웹사이트 said White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson, using the abbreviation for North Korea바카라 게임 웹사이트s official name of the Democratic People바카라 게임 웹사이트s Republic of Korea. 바카라 게임 웹사이트We urge the DPRK to abide by the public commitments that Pyongyang has made to not provide or sell arms to Russia.바카라 게임 웹사이트
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington will monitor the meeting closely, reminding both countries that 바카라 게임 웹사이트any transfer of arms from North Korea to Russia would be a violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions,바카라 게임 웹사이트 and that the U.S. 바카라 게임 웹사이트will not hesitate to impose new sanctions.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Japan바카라 게임 웹사이트s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters that Tokyo will be watching the outcome of the Kim-Putin meeting with concern, including the 바카라 게임 웹사이트impact it could have on Russia바카라 게임 웹사이트s invasion of Ukraine.바카라 게임 웹사이트
The United States has accused North Korea of providing Russia with arms, including selling artillery shells to the Russian mercenary group Wagner. Both Russian and North Korean officials denied such claims.
But speculation about the countries바카라 게임 웹사이트 military cooperation grew after Shoigu, the defense minister, made a rare visit to North Korea in July, when Kim invited him to an arms exhibition and a massive military parade in the capital where he showcased ICBMs designed to target the U.S. mainland.
Following that visit, Kim toured North Korea바카라 게임 웹사이트s weapons factories, including a facility producing artillery systems where he urged workers to speed up the development and large-scale production of new kinds of ammunition. Experts say Kim바카라 게임 웹사이트s visits to the factories likely had a dual goal of encouraging the modernization of North Korean weaponry and examining artillery and other supplies that could be exported to Russia.
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Associated Press journalists Jim Heintz in Tallinn, Estonia; Aamer Madhani and Matthew Lee in Washington; Dake Kang and Ng Han Guan in Fangchuan, China; Haruka Nuga in Tokyo; Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.