Kim is visiting Russia amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula, which has seen recurring missile launches by Pyongyang as well as military drills involving South Korean and US troops. On Wednesday, just ahead of the meeting with Putin, Seoul accused Pyongyang of yet another missile launch.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has welcomed North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Amur Region. A video shared by the Kremlin showed the two leaders shaking hands as they greeted one other on Wednesday.
Putin arrived at Vostochny following a two-day visit to the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok. The North Korean leader traveled to the facility onboard his armored train after crossing into Russian territory on Tuesday morning.
“I’m very glad to see you,” Putin told his guest, noting that this year marks North Korea's 75th founding anniversary and 70 years since the Korean War armistice, as well as 75 years of diplomatic relations with Russia.
Kim thanked Putin for the invitation and a “very warm welcome,” according to videos of the leaders’ handshake shared by Russian media outlets.
Commenting on the agenda of the Russian-North Korean summit, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said the upcoming talks are set to focus on a number of “sensitive issues,” as well as bilateral economic and cultural cooperation, and the overall situation in the region. The Kremlin spokesman said the negotiations would be held both with Russian and North Korean delegations present and in a one-on-one format.
©Mikhail Metzel/Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/TASS
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un productive and frank.
"The beginning is good and very productive. There was a very frank exchange of views on the situation in the region and on bilateral relations," Putin said in an interview with the 60 Minutes program.
He noted at the same time that Moscow and Beijing "suffered great losses from the COVID-19 pandemic, when the DPRK was virtually closed to the outside world."
Putin emphasized that Russia and the DPRK now had "quite a few projects of interest."
© Vladimir Smirnov/TASS
"For instance, such things come to mind as transportation and logistics - meaning both railways and automobile roads, the reopening of the seaport, where a very good logistics triangle can be created: a railroad, a seaport, and a highway to China. Here it is possible to increase transportation volumes many times over, which is very important in general," Putin explained.
He added that he spoke with Kim Jong Un about the development of agriculture. In this regard Russia "has a great deal to offer."
"We provide humanitarian assistance to that country, but in addition to humanitarian aid, there is an opportunity to simply work together on an equal footing, and the prospects here are not bad at all," Putin said.
Kim Jong-un tours Russia’s Vostochny Cosmodrome
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was given a tour of the Vostochny Cosmodrome on Wednesday as part of his state visit to Russia.
He was accompanied by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Nikolay Nestechuk, the recently appointed chief of ground infrastructure for the Russian space program, along with Roscosmos chief Yury Borisov and other senior officials from the host nation.
Footage of the visit showed Kim asking questions about the size and maximum engine thrust of the Angara rocket family, which Roscosmos is developing for Vostochny launches.
Nestechuk showed Kim a universal launch pad, which can accommodate a wide range of rockets, from light to super-heavy class. He pointed out that “everything here is Russian, from the rocket to the last bolt.”
North Korea has a robust rocket industry, which it is developing in defiance of international sanctions. It has attempted several space launches over the years, which Washington claimed to be ICBM tests in disguise. Pyongyang openly fires military rockets on a regular basis.
Road to summit
Reports about Kim Jong Un’s potential visit to Russia, which would be his first foreign trip since the outbreak of the pandemic, were brought up by the Western media in early September. On September 11, Moscow and Pyongyang confirmed that the North Korean leader would visit Russia, but did not specify on which date.
On September 12, Kim Jong Un arrived on his train in Russia’s Far Eastern Primorye Region. Russian Natural Resources Minister Alexander Kozlov, Russia’s co-chair of the intergovernmental commission, welcomed him at the train station in the border city of Khasan. Putin was already in Vladivostok, where he chaired a meeting on the development of Far Eastern cities and towns and delivered a speech at the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum.
At Vostochny Spaceport
On Wednesday, the Russian president traveled by plane from the Primorye Region to the Vostochny Spaceport, where he met with Maria Andreeva, a high school student from Rostov-on-Don. She was among a group of students that attended Putin’s open lesson "Talking About Important Things" on September 1, at which she told the president about her interest in space exploration, in particular her passion for satellites.
The North Korean leader arrived at the spaceport on his train, which pulled up at the launch vehicle assembly and test building. He made his way to the meeting with Putin in his Maybach limousine.
The two leaders shook hands and posed for a photo at the main entrance to the assembly and test building. Putin told Kim Jong Un about the Vostochny Spaceport, and the North Korean leader thanked him for the invitation to visit Russia "despite his busy schedule."
Putin and Kim Jong Un were shown around the shop assembling Angara launch vehicles.
"This is why we are visiting here (the Vostochny Spaceport - TASS). The North Korean leader has expressed a strong interest in rocket technology, and they (North Korea - TASS) are also seeking to develop space exploration capabilities," Putin told reporters.
©Mikhail Metzel/Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/TASS
Kim Jong Un made an entry in the book for honorable visitors, writing in Korean: "The glory of Russia as the country of first space explorers will never fade away."
One-on-one talks and talks involving delegations
The talks between the two countries’ delegations took place on the first floor of the engineering building of the unit designed for Soyuz-2 carrier rockets. They lasted for over an hour (in 2019 similar talks lasted for about three and a half hours.)
From Russia, four deputy prime ministers - Denis Manturov, Marat Khusnullin, Alexey Overchuk and Yury Trutnev - as well as Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev, Natural Resources Minister Alexander Kozlov, and Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, who visited Pyongyang in late July, took park in the talks. From North Korea, the talks were attended by Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui and Defense Minister Kang Sun Nam, as well as by Marshal Pak Jong Chon, a member of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea.
During that part of the meeting that was open to the press, which lasted less than ten minutes including time for interpretation, Putin recalled "the special time" during which the talks were being held as well as the assistance provided by the Soviet Union to the Koreans in their struggle for independence. The North Korean leader said in response that relations with Moscow are a top priority for Pyongyang and expressed confidence that the summit would help to elevate them to a new level. He stated that Russia had risen "to the sacred fight" for its sovereignty and security and voiced total support for the country’s authorities.
After the talks involving the delegations, Putin and Kim Jong Un held hour-long one-on-one talks (their previous face-to-face conversation lasted about two hours), although this was not announced beforehand, as Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov merely indicated that it would be possible if needed.
Among the issues discussed were bilateral cooperation, the situation in the region and beyond. In particular, Kim Jong Un pointed out that they touched upon "the military-political situation on the Korean Peninsula and in Europe." Peskov told TASS that no documents were expected to be signed after the talks.
Formal dinner
After the talks, a formal dinner was served in honor of Kim Jong Un with Kamchatka crab dumplings, white amur fish soup and taiga lingonberries with cedar nuts and condensed milk laid out on the table. Four years ago, Far Eastern delicacies and typical Russian cuisine, including crab salad, borsch and venison dumplings, were served.
The two leaders toasted each other. Putin raised his glass to the health of Kim Jong Un and the wellbeing and prosperity of the peoples of Russia and North Korea who are working for the sake of peace, stability and prosperity in the region. The DPRK’s leader said with confidence at the reception that the traditional friendly ties between Moscow and Pyongyang would evolve into "unbreakable relations of strategic cooperation," wished success in the special military operation and toasted to "the new victories of great Russia."
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