2023-09-13 12:06:42
GEOPOLITICS – Four years after his last official visit, Kim Jong-un is back in Russia. For his first trip abroad since the borders were closed at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the North Korean leader left the capital Pyongyang on Sunday and reached the far east of Russia yesterday Tuesday. Kim Jong-un to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin about “sensitive subjects” and these upcoming exchanges are raising Western concerns.
According to images from the Russian agency Ria Novosti, Kim Jong-un arrived aboard his “moving fortress”, its armored train with green wagons. He is accompanied by senior officials, such as his head of Defense, his Minister of Foreign Affairs and those responsible for arms production and space technology, we learn from official media.
Weapons against nuclear technologies
Ahead of a political summit planned in the coming days, the North Korean leader spoke with his Russian counterpart today during a tour of the Vostochny space facilities in the Amur region. Although the program of their meeting was not specified, the two men discussed satellite technology and space research.
Kim Jong-un previously attended an economic forum in Vladivostok, northeast of the border with North Korea. A meeting attended by foreign delegations from countries in the region, such as those from China and Burma.
Putin’s meeting with Kim ultimately took place on the sidelines of this economic summit because of the subjects that will be discussed, described as “sensitive” by Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov.
The presence of several senior officials responsible for the various North Korean military programs has alerted observers and Western countries, including the United States in the first place, who expect that an agreement armament is at the heart of the exchanges between the two leaders.
Moscow would like to acquire shells and anti-tank missiles from its neighbor in the far southeast. In return, Pyongyang, which is subject to numerous trade, economic and financial sanctions, notably American ones, would like to obtain energy products, food and medical aid but above all cutting-edge technologies in the areas of satellites and nuclear-powered submarines.
Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, points out that “North Korea has the munitions Putin needs” for the war in Ukraine and Moscow “has the underwater, ballistic and satellite technologies that can help Pyongyang overcome the engineering challenges imposed by economic sanctions.”
The summit is as expected by the two countries as it is feared by the West, particularly Washington, the common enemy of Russia and North Korea. The Kremlin has also ignored the warnings from the United States. “In building our relationships with our neighbors, including North Korea, what matters to us is the interests of our two countries, not caveats” of the USA, said Dmitri Peskov.
Concern among Western countries
Uncle Sam fears that a supply of weapons to Moscow from Pyongyang will allow it to continue its military operations in Ukraine, at a time when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recognizes that Russia is stopping Kiev’s counter-offensive.
But the issues go beyond this conflict. By providing North Korea with advanced technologies in the field of satellites and submarines, Putin hopes to demonstrate to Joe Biden his ability to threaten the stability, dear to Washington, of the Korean peninsula. South Korea is just as targeted according to Andreï Lankov, an expert on North Korea at Kookmin University in Seoul, since such a summit between Moscow and Pyongyang would aim to deter South Korea, a major exporter of military equipment. , to supply weapons to Ukraine.
A possible delivery of nuclear technologies in return for North Korean weapons is, however, not without danger for Russia and its president, already targeted by a mandate from the International Criminal Court for “war crimes”. “Russia would violate United Nations resolutions by importing weapons from the country, and would openly become a ‘proliferating country’. This would be a major diplomatic risk, which would further tarnish its image and would be difficult to explain to its partners.”, estimated Antoine Bondaz, researcher at the Foundation for Strategic Research, teacher at Sciences Po and director of the Observatory of Multilateralism in the Indo-Pacific.
In addition, Russia’s import of military equipment, “claiming to be the world’s second military power would be an admission of weakness.” His opinion is shared by Paris in its reaction to Kim Jong-un’s visit. The spokesperson for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs believes that the arrival of the North Korean leader demonstrates a “isolation of Moscow on the international scene”. “Russia is isolated to the point of being forced to turn towards North Korea (…) This is a very strong mark of its international isolation”declared Anne-Claire Legendre.
However, this is not Vladimir Putin’s first meeting with Kim Jong-un. The two leaders already met in 2019 to discuss the denuclearization of North Korea and American sanctions. The last summit between the two countries took place in 2011, between Jong-un’s father, Kim Jong-il and Dmitry Medvedev. The ties between the two countries are also historic and Kim Jong-un has repeatedly expressed his support to Moscow in its conflict against Ukraine.
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