North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has arrived in the eastern Russian city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur. There he visits a factory where fighter jets are made. Kim already visited a Russian missile base on Wednesday and will also view the Russian naval fleet in Vladivostok, the Kremlin reports.
Kim has been on a multi-day visit to Russia since Tuesday.
At the factory, Kim Jong-un was briefed and viewed Russian fighter jets:
He crossed the border early this week on a heavily armored train and was received by Russian President Putin on Wednesday at the Vostoshny space center in southeastern Russia. After viewing the launch site together, they had conversations behind the scenes.
After the meeting, Putin told Russian state media that Kim would travel to Komsomolsk to visit an aircraft factory. That visit could indicate what Kim wants from Russia in return for support in the war that Russia is waging in Ukraine.
International concerns
South Korea warns that Kim’s visit could lead to North Korea receiving all kinds of advanced weapons technology from Russia in exchange for ammunition that Russia can use in Ukraine. If North Korea receives military spy satellites, it will increase the threat from Kim’s nuclear program, Seoul emphasizes.
“Any scientific and technological cooperation that contributes to the development of nuclear weapons and missiles, including satellite systems using ballistic missile technologies, goes against UN Security Council resolutions,” South Korean ministry spokesman Lim Soo-suk said. of Foreign Affairs yesterday.
If North Korea transfers arms to Russia, the US will “deal with it appropriately,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. “No country in the world, no one, should help Mr. Putin kill innocent Ukrainians.”
Return visit
Kim Jong-un has invited President Putin for a return visit to North Korea. The Kremlin says Putin has accepted the invitation. Foreign Minister Lavrov will travel to Pyongyang next month. Putin previously visited North Korea in 2000, when he met in Pyongyang with Kim’s father, the late Kim Jong Il.
- Putin and Kim strengthen ties, but uncertainty remains about arms deliveries
- North Korean leaders like to take their luxurious, armored and slow train
- Kim Jong-un by train to Vladivostok to visit Putin
