Putin’s North Korea visit to push ties beyond the reach of the West

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in North Korea for the first time in 24 years, seeking to boost trade and security ties with Pyongyang, though the visit is drawing concern about Moscow’s attempt to procure additional military supplies for its war in Ukraine.

Landing in Pyongyang in the early hours of Wednesday morning local time, Mr. Putin was met by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the two men greeting each other warmly.

The pair then rode in the same limousine to Mr. Putin’s hotel, during which they “exchanged their pent-up innermost thoughts and opened their minds to more surely develop relations in conformity with the common desire and will of the peoples of the two countries,” according to North Korean state media.

In an article published in North Korean newspaper Rodong Sinmun ahead of Mr. Putin’s trip, the Russian President promised to build trade and security systems with Pyongyang that are beyond the West’s control “and jointly resist illegitimate unilateral restrictions.”

North Korea is one of the most sanctioned countries in the world, a result of decades of nuclear and ballistic missile testing in defiance of United Nations resolutions, which Russia once supported and enforced. But since the invasion of Ukraine, Moscow – which is itself under severe Western sanctions – has vetoed additional measures and blocked the renewal of a panel of experts monitoring the enforcement of existing UN sanctions, amid growing ties with Pyongyang.

North Korea has provided key support for Russia’s war, shipping dozens of ballistic missiles and more than 11,000 containers of munitions, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said this week.

“We have seen those munitions show up on the battlefield in Ukraine,” he told reporters in Washington.

Mr. Miller said Mr. Putin’s trip was likely intended to shore up this supply line, describing Moscow as “incredibly desperate” to replace military equipment lost in Ukraine and rearm, as Russian forces advance across the country.

Both Pyongyang and Moscow have denied any trade in weapons – which would be in violation of UN sanctions – but in his Rodong Sinmun article, Mr. Putin praised North Korea for “firmly supporting the special military operations of Russia being conducted in Ukraine.”

He and Mr. Kim are expected to sign several new agreements, including security and trade pacts, Russian state media reported. Mr. Putin’s delegation includes Defence Minister Andrei Belousov; Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov; the ministers for natural resources, health and transport; the heads of the Russian space agency and railways; and Mr. Putin’s point man for energy, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak.

“North Korea stands to gain a lot from this relationship, especially in the short term,” said Jenny Town, senior fellow for Korea at the Stimson Centre, a Washington think tank.

“This includes, in the economic realm, increased trade, increased economic cooperation. We’ve seen indications of agricultural cooperation and even the willingness of Russia to receive North Korean workers again, as well as political support.”

She said Russia was the first country “basically since the collapse of the Soviet Union that’s been willing to offer North Korea military cooperation,” potentially enabling Pyongyang to upgrade its satellite and missile programs.

Mr. Putin and Mr. Kim last met in September at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, a spaceport in Russia’s Far East.

Sue Mi Terry, a former CIA analyst and senior fellow for Korea studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote Tuesday that there are growing concerns “the current rekindling of a military relationship between North Korea and Russia could lead to a deeper, mutually beneficial trade in weapons and technology.”

This would include not only the shipping of shells and other weapons from North Korea to Russia, she said, but Russian assistance for Pyongyang’s ballistic missile program, which “could turbo-charge the threat that North Korea poses not only to South Korea but also to the United States and Japan.”

Ms. Terry added that “much depends on what happens in Ukraine. If the war continues for years to come, that will increase Russia’s dependence on North Korea for munitions production and make Putin more willing to share sensitive technologies.”

After his trip to North Korea, Mr. Putin will continue on to Vietnam for a two-day state visit.

Tensions have ramped up on the Korean Peninsula in recent years. A series of summits in 2018 and 2019 between Mr. Kim and former presidents Moon Jae-in of South Korea and Donald Trump of the U.S. failed to secure a lasting settlement. Yoon Suk Yeol, who succeeded Mr. Moon as President in 2022, has since pursued a tougher stance toward Pyongyang.

In January, Mr. Kim broke with decades of policy in formally abandoning the cause of Korean reunification, describing the South as a separate country that is the North’s “primary foe” and vowing to crush it by force if provoked.

Since then, the North has conducted multiple weapons tests and stepped up activity along the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas.

With reports from Reuters