Kim Jong Un says Russia will win ‘great victory’

Gulf Today Report

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Wednesday he was confident Moscow would win a "great victory" over its enemies, during a dinner with President Vladimir Putin in Russia's Far East.

"We are confident that the Russian army and people will certainly win a great victory in the holy struggle to punish the gathering of evil," Kim was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.

After touring launch pads with Putin at a remote space base in Russia’s Far East, Kim expressed "full and unconditional support” and said Pyongyang will always stand with Moscow on the "anti-imperialist” front.

Talks between Putin and North Korea's Kim Jong Un end after 4-5 hours, Russian state media report.

The leaders met at the Vostochny Cosmodrome for a summit that underscores how their interests are aligning in the face of their countries' separate, intensifying confrontations with the United States. The talks lasted four to five hours, after which Kim left, Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti reported.

North Korea may have tens of millions of aging artillery shells and rockets based on Soviet designs that could give a huge boost to the Russian army in Ukraine, analysts say.

Vladimir Putin (left) and Kim Jong Un shake hands during their meeting. AP

The decision to meet at Cosmodrome, Russia's most important launch center on its own soil, suggests that Kim is seeking Russian help developing military reconnaissance satellites, which he has described as crucial to enhance the threat of his nuclear-capable missiles. In recent months, North Korea has repeatedly failed to put its first military spy satellite into orbit.

But either buying arms from or providing rocket technology to North Korea would violate international sanctions that Russia has supported in the past.

Putin welcomed Kim’s limousine, brought from Pyongyang in the North Korean leader’s special armored train, at the entrance to the launch facility with a handshake that lasted around 40 seconds. In his opening remarks, Putin welcomed Kim to Russia and said he was glad to see him, saying the talks would cover economic cooperation, humanitarian issues and the "situation in the region."

Kim, in turn, expressed support for Moscow's efforts to defend its interests, in an apparent reference to the war in Ukraine. "Russia is currently engaged in a just fight against hegemonic forces to defend its sovereign rights, security and interests,” the North Korean leader said. "I take this opportunity to affirm that we will always stand with Russia on the anti-imperialist front and the front of independence.”

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu (right) attends a meeting of Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un. AP

The two men began their meeting with a tour of a Soyuz-2 space rocket launch facility, at which Kim peppered a Russian space official with questions about the rockets.

Kim and Putin then met together with their delegations and later one-on-one, according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. After the talks, the Russian president threw an official lunch for Kim, Russian state media reported.

The meeting came hours after North Korea fired two ballistic missiles toward the sea, extending a highly provocative run in North Korean weapons testing since the start of 2022, as Kim used the distraction caused by Putin’s war on Ukraine to accelerate his weapons development.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff didn’t immediately say how far the North Korean missiles flew. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the missiles landed in the waters outside of the country’s exclusive economic zones and there were no reports of damages to vessels or aircraft.