North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin met at a remote space launch site in Russia’s far east Wednesday, ahead of anticipated arms talks and just hours after North Korea launched two ballistic missiles into waters off the Korean Peninsula.
The face to face meeting at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, is seen as a significant development, bringing together two leaders who are increasingly isolated on the world stage and coming amid Russia’s protracted and faltering war on Ukraine and crippling UN sanctions. Video released by the Kremlin Wednesday showed the two leaders shaking hands while images show both the Russian and North Korean flags flying outside the building.
“Thank you for inviting us and welcoming us while your work is busy,” Kim could be heard saying to Putin, who had asked after his trip.
Inside the Vostochny Cosmodrome, the two leaders could be seen touring the space center. A journalist with state media Russia 1 said Kim asked “a lot of very detailed questions” on how the cosmodrome works and which rockets launch from the center.
Kim arrived in Russia on Tuesday, state media reported, aboard his heavily-armored private train accompanied by party leaders, including a top military official in charge of the country’s ballistic missile programs, according to photos shared by North Korean state media.
During a stop at the border town Khasan Tuesday, where Kim was welcomed by Russian officials, the North Korean leader said his trip to Russia was a “clear manifestation” of North Korea “prioritizing the strategic importance” of Moscow-Pyongyang relations, state media reported.
As the two leaders were gearing up for the expected summit, North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles from the Sunan area between 11:43 a.m. and 11:53 a.m. local time, into the waters off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
Why it matters that Putin and Kim are meeting at a space center
The highly-anticipated meeting is being closely watched by observers in the West. US officials has repeatedly warned North Korea and Russia were “actively advancing” arms negotiations, which could see Pyongyang supply weapons for Moscow’s use in the Ukraine war in exchange for sanctioned ballistic missile technology.
When asked by a reporter whether Russia would help North Korea launch its own satellites and rockets, Putin responded: “That’s exactly why we came here.”
“The leader of North Korea shows great interest in space, in rocketry, and they are trying to develop space. We’ll show our new objects,” Putin said at the Vostochny Cosmodrome Wednesday.
Moscow in need of fresh supplies of ammunition and shells after more than 18 months of war in Ukraine has left its military battered, while North Korea, which has faced years of international sanctions over its nuclear weapons program, is short of everything from hard cash and food to missile technology.
Analysts say the location of Wednesday’s summit is significant.
“Meeting at Russia’s eastern spaceport is particularly provocative because it suggests that Putin may offer sanctions-violating satellite launch technology in exchange for North Korean munitions that Moscow would employ in its illegal war in Ukraine,” Leif-Eric Easley, professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, told CNN.
Space technology is a priority for North Korea, which has repeatedly tried and failed to launch a spy satellite into orbit. Kim has also stressed the role of military satellites as a means to protect national safety and territorial stability and has spoken of their strategic value when deploying military force preemptively, KCNA said in April.
North Korea fires ballistic missiles
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the two ballistic missiles fired by North Korea Wednesday morning each traveled about 650 kilometers (400 miles) before falling into the waters off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula.
US and South Korean intelligence authorities were analyzing further details of the launch, said the JCS which called it “a significant provocative act” that threatens peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula as well as the international community.”
Analysts say it’s unusual for Pyongyang to conduct a launch while Kim is out of the country. North Korea may be intending “to show that the military maintains readiness with uninterrupted command and control,” Easley said.
“It is also remarkable that North Korea fires missiles subject to UN sanctions while Kim is in Russia to meet with the leader of a permanent member of the Security Council,” Easley added.
Ankit Panda, a senior fellow with the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the launch was “a notable development.”
“Beginning in 2019, Kim started to generally grow more hands-off on testing and exercises, with many launches taking place without his apparent presence. This launch could have been carried out under standing orders,” Panda said.
“It further comes at a time when we’ve started to see North Korea make some moves toward a more delegative form of nuclear command and control with the introduction of tactical nuclear weapons.”
— CutC by cnn.com
