Vladimir Putin accepts Kim Jong-un’s invitation to visit North Korea

The summit between the two leaders signals a seismic change in the northeast Asian geopolitics.

Kim Jong-un signs the visitor’s book at Russia’s Vostochny Cosmodrome on Wednesday. Picture: AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accepted an invitation to visit North Korea, Pyongyang’s state media said Thursday, as Kim Jong-un wrapped up a rare trip to meet with his ally.

The isolated Kim, who seldom leaves his country and has not travelled since pre-pandemic, had a “historic meeting and talks” with Mr Putin on Wednesday, the Korean Central News Agency said.

Among the results of the summit were Russian promises of help with North Korea’s fledgling space program, according to Russian news agencies, while Mr Putin told reporters he saw “possibilities” for military co-operation.

Historic allies, Russia and the North are both under rafts of global sanctions – Moscow for its Ukraine conflict, Pyongyang for its nuclear tests – with Kim’s visit sparking US concerns over illicit arms deals. After touring a space centre and attending a lavish banquet in his honour, Kim “courteously invited Putin to visit the DPRK at a convenient time”, KCNA said, referring to the country by its official name.

“Putin accepted the invitation with pleasure and reaffirmed his will to invariably carry forward the history and tradition of the Russia-DPRK friendship.”

Mr Kim told Mr Putin on Wednesday he was sure Russia would win a “great victory” over its enemies.

Western countries have repeatedly raised concerns of a possible arms agreement between Russia and North Korea, as Moscow’s war in Ukraine grinds on.

“The summit signals a seismic change in the northeast Asian geopolitics,” said Kim Jong-dae, a former MP and visiting scholar at Yonsei Institute for North Korean Studies. A stronger alliance between North Korea, Russia and China could become a “destabilising force in the region” and ammunition from Pyongyang could significantly affect the war in Ukraine.

Russia became a pariah in the West after invading Ukraine last year and has looked to strengthen alliances with other leaders facing similar isolation.

Mr Putin on Wednesday praised the “strengthening of cooperation and friendship between our countries”, while hosting Mr Kim at a spaceport in Russia’s far east. He said Moscow could help Pyongyang build satellites – after the North failed twice recently to put a spy satellite into orbit.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said any co-operation would be “quite troubling and would potentially be in violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions”.

Mr Kim, who travelled overland to Russia in his bullet-proof train, was accompanied by a military-heavy entourage, with top Russian military officials including Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu also involved in the talks.

“With Kim Jong-un’s latest visit to Russia, North Korea-Russia relations can be said to have completely returned to the level of blood alliance during the Cold War,” said Cheong Seong-chang, researcher at the Sejong Institute. “There have been many summit meetings between North Korea and Russia so far, but there has never been a time when North Korea brought in almost all of its key military officials.”

AFP