North Korean state media says Kim Jong Un discussed arms cooperation with Russian defense minister
CTV
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held discussions with Russia's defence minister on strengthening "strategic and tactical coordination" between the countries' militaries, the North's state media said Sunday, as Kim continued a visit to Russia's Far East that has raised concerns about an arms alliance that would fuel Moscow's war on Ukraine.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held discussions with Russia's defence minister on strengthening "strategic and tactical coordination" between the countries' militaries, the North's state media said Sunday, as Kim continued a visit to Russia's Far East that has raised concerns about an arms alliance that would fuel Moscow's war on Ukraine.
The talks with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu came after Kim on Friday was shown some of Russia's most advanced weapons systems deployed for its war on Ukraine, including nuclear-capable bombers and hypersonic missiles, and a key warship of its Pacific fleet, the Korean Central News Agency said.
Kim's trip, highlighted by a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, has underscored how their interests are aligning in the face of separate, intensifying confrontations with the West. U.S. and South Korean officials have said North Korea could provide badly needed munitions for Putin's war on Ukraine in exchange for sophisticated Russian weapons technology that would advance Kim's nuclear ambitions.
While his predominant focus is on military cooperation, Kim also appears to be using his trip to encourage broader exchanges between the countries as he tries to break out of diplomatic isolation.
The governor of Russia's Primorye region, which includes Vladivostok, said he plans to meet with Kim on Sunday. Gov. Oleg Kozhemyako said on his messaging app channel they would discuss exchange programs for schoolchildren to attend summer camps in one another's country and other ways to cooperate in sports, tourism and culture. Russian media said Kim may also visit food industry businesses in Primorye.
A day after visiting an aircraft plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur that produces Russia's most powerful fighter jets, Kim on Saturday traveled to an airport near the port city of Vladivostok, where Shoigu and other senior military officials gave him an up-close look at Russia's strategic bombers and other warplanes.
All the Russian warplanes shown to Kim were among the types that have seen active use in the war in Ukraine, including the Tu-160, Tu-95 and Tu-22 bombers that have regularly launched cruise missiles.
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