Putin and Kim put on a show as worries mount over what Russia might promise North Korea
CBC
When Russian President Vladimir Putin toured North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his entourage around the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia's far east Amur region on Wednesday, it was a deliberate display of mutual support between two countries that are increasingly isolated and united in their hostility toward the West.
The fact that the meeting took place at Russia's newest aerospace site was symbolic, and Putin made it even clearer just how his country could help North Korea's military and space ambitions.
When asked by state media if Russia would help North Korea build satellites, he replied that the cosmodrome was the backdrop for the visit because "Kim shows great interest in rocket engineering."
While U.S. officials have warned that North Korea may be on the brink of supplying Russia with ammunition to help fuel its war in Ukraine, some political analysts believe another long-term threat lies in what Russia could promise its nuclear-armed friend in return.
"I think the worrisome part is that this relationship can last a long time," said Nina Khrushcheva, a professor of international affairs at New York City's The New School.
Russia "can offer expertise. It can offer logistics … and certainly it can offer ... nuclear know-how," added Khrushcheva, who is also the great-granddaughter of Nikita Khrushchev, who led the Soviet Union in the 1950s and '60s.
Khrushcheva, who spoke to CBC in a video call from Moscow, believes that while the visit likely included substantive talk between the two leaders, staging a meeting in a remote corner of Russia was more about performance and a chance for Putin to show that there are still leaders willing to travel to Russia to "kiss the ring."
She said the meeting was typical of heads of state, given the pomp and circumstance.
"But also, it is harking back to the Soviets, train travelling, red carpet, Soviet-looking regiments that greeted Kim. Even in Kim's speech, it was all lofty communist rhetoric, 'holy war for security, 'fighting against imperialism' and so on," she said.
This was Kim's second visit with Putin, and his first trip outside North Korea since 2019.
Over the past two days, Russian media has promoted the visit, airing footage of Kim's armoured green train rolling into the country and heading north toward the remote forested region that hosts the cosmodrome.
Just an hour before the two leaders met, North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles. They crashed into the sea off of its eastern coast.
Russian officials said the meetings included discussions around potential economic and agricultural co-operation, and that Kim's itinerary also included visits to Russian defence factories.
Ramon Pacheco Pardo, a professor of international relations at King's College London, said the visit sent a clear political message to NATO and the United States "that North Korea has Russia's back and vice versa."
