The North Korean leader met with the Russian president at the Vostochny Cosmodrome – Russia’s biggest domestic space launch centre.
Sky News reporter @thejournojames
Wednesday 13 September 2023 21:26, UK
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Kim Jong Un has pledged his support to Russia in what he has described as the “fight against imperialism”.
The North Korean leader also praised Russia and its president for a fighting a “sacred war” against “hegemonic forces” – thought to be a reference to the West.
“We will always support the decisions of President Putin and the Russian leadership … and we will be together in the fight against imperialism,” Kim told Mr Putin via a translator.
Kim also said he was “convinced” that the “heroic Russian army” would triumph in its war with Ukraine – a conflict he referred to by the Kremlin’s preferred term of “special military operation”.
“The Russian army and people will certainly win a great victory in the sacred struggle for the punishment of a great
evil that claims hegemony and feeds an expansionist illusion,” he added.
Putin and Kim conversation details emerge – latest updates
Mr Putin, meanwhile, listed economic cooperation, humanitarian issues and the “situation in the region” among the agenda items for his talks with Kim, which went on for up to five hours, according to Russian state media.
During the talks – their first in person since 2019 – the pair dinned on duck and fig salad, crab dumplings, sturgeon and
beef with a choice of Russian wines, according to Kremlin reporters.
It comes after the pair shook hands as they met at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, Russia’s biggest domestic space launch centre.
Western intelligence officials believe Mr Putin is seeking ammunition from heavily militarised North Korea for his invasion of Ukraine – which he has himself compared to the conquests of Russia’s former imperialist monarch, Peter the Great.
Vladimir Putin has in the past lamented the loss of Russia’s own empire.
Spanning much of northern Eurasia between the early 1700s until the Soviet revolution in 1917, the Russian Empire was the third largest in the history of the world – behind only the British and Mongol Empires in terms of land mass.
The empire was founded at the end of the rule of Peter I, often known as Peter the Great, who built it through a mixture of reform, diplomacy and conquest.
Mr Putin has previously drawn comparisons between his own presidency and the rule of Peter the Great.
Speaking after visiting an exhibition to celebrate the 350th anniversary of Peter’s birth last year, the Russian president also drew a parallel to his invasion of Ukraine.
“Peter the Great waged the Great Northern War for 21 years,” he said.
“It would seem that he was at war with Sweden, he took something from them. He did not take anything from them, he returned [them].”
Referring to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine he said: “Apparently, it also fell to us to return [what is Russia’s] and strengthen [the country]. And if we proceed from the fact that these basic values form the basis of our existence, we will certainly succeed in solving the tasks that we face.”
Mr Putin also previously called the collapse of the Russian Empire’s successor, the USSR, the “greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century” and lamented the loss of “territory of the former Russian Empire” during its fall.
They believe Kim is seeking Russian technical assistance for his efforts to develop military reconnaissance satellites.
The meeting came hours after North Korea fired two ballistic missiles toward the sea, extending a highly provocative run of North Korean weapons testing since the start of 2022.
Mr Putin welcomed Kim, who arrived at the facility in Siberia in a limousine, having travelled from Pyongyang in his special armoured train with his influential sister Kim Yo Jong.
Read more:
Kim has little to lose in his meeting with Putin
North Korea simulates ‘scorched earth’ nuclear strike
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Pak Thae Song, chairman of North Korea’s space science and technology committee, and navy Admiral Kim Myong Sik, who are both linked with North Korean efforts to acquire spy satellites and nuclear-capable ballistic missile submarines, also travelled in the delegation, according to South Korea’s Unification Ministry.
Moscow correspondent
Vladimir Putin told Russian state TV after his meetings with the North Korean leader that Russia remained fully in compliance with the “restrictions” on military cooperation with North Korea.
“But there are things, of course, that we can talk about,” he said. Vladimir Putin told Russian state TV after his meetings with the North Korean leader that Russia remained fully in compliance with the “restrictions” on military cooperation with North Korea. “But there are things, of course, that we can talk about,” he said.
The West is worried this was an arms deal – North Korean munitions in exchange for Russian military-technical know-how, with a bit of humanitarian aid thrown in. And whatever Mr Putin says, actions speak louder than words.
Read more from Diana here
Kim and Mr Putin shared a handshake that lasted about 40 seconds following the North Korean leader’s arrival, with the Russian president saying he was “very glad to see” him.
During the tour of the space centre, Kim peppered a Russian space official with questions about the rockets.
In August, North Korea’s second attempt to launch a reconnaissance satellite failed due to an error in the booster’s third stage, according to the country’s state-controlled media.
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In late May, a North Korean rocket carrying a spy satellite also plunged into the sea soon after lift-off.
Asked whether Russia will help North Korea build satellites, Mr Putin was quoted by Russian state media as saying: “That’s why we have come here.”
“The DPRK leader shows keen interest in rocket technology. They’re trying to develop space, too,” he added.
