NEWS
Putin, Kim Jong Un Meet For Summit At Russian Spaceport
Courtesy of wionews/Instagram
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un talked for several hours Wednesday at a spaceport on Russia’s Far East, signaling possible military support for Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Kim made a rare trip abroad for the summit at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, where he toured the Soyuz-2 launch pads and asked questions about the country’s rockets.
It is speculated that North Korea still has artillery shells and other ammunition based on Soviet designs, from when the Soviet Union supported communist North Korea in the 1950–53 Korean war. The Soviet Union was the first country to recognize North Korea after its founding in 1948.
Kim offered Putin “full and unconditional support” in its current war in Ukraine and said North Korea would always stand with Russia on the “anti-imperialist front.”
According to Russian state media, Putin indicated Russia could help North Korea develop satellites, saying that Kim has a “keen interest in rocket technology” and that North Korea is “trying to develop space.”
The meeting followed North Korea’s launch of two ballistic missiles toward the sea, a continuation of ongoing weapons testing. The country recently failed in multiple attempts to launch a spy satellite.
Putin said that after the summit, Kim would visit an aircraft factory in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, then travel Vladivostok to visit a university and attend a demonstration by Russia’s Pacific Fleet.
TMX contributed to this article.
