Seoul: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected Russia’s nuclear-capable bombers, hypersonic missiles and an advanced warship from its Pacific fleet on Saturday as he continued a trip in Russia’s Far East that has sparked Western concerns about an arms alliance that could fuel Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine.
After arriving in the city of Artyom by train, Kim travelled to an airport just outside the port city of Vladivostok where Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and other senior military officials gave him an up-close look at Russia’s strategic bombers and other warplanes.
All the Russian warplanes shown to Kim on Saturday were among the types that have seen active use in the war in Ukraine, including the Tu-160, Tu-95 and Tu-22 bombers that have regularly launched cruise missiles.
Shoigu, who had met Kim during a rare visit to North Korea in July, also showed Kim one of Russia’s latest missiles, the hypersonic Kinzhal, carried by the MiG-31 fighter jet, that saw its first combat during the war in Ukraine, according to Russia’s Defence Ministry.
Kim and Shoigu later travelled to Vladivostok, where they inspected the Admiral Shaposhnikov frigate of Russia’s Pacific fleet.
Russia’s navy commander, Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, briefed Kim on the ship’s capabilities and weapons, which include long-range Kalibr cruise missiles that Russian warships have regularly fired at targets in Ukraine.
Kim’s visits to military and technology sites this week possibly hint at what he wants from Russia, perhaps in exchange for supplying munitions to refill Putin’s declining reserves as his invasion of Ukraine becomes a drawn-out war of attrition.
Kim’s trip to Russia, which included more than four hours of talks with Putin on Wednesday, comes amid momentum in military cooperation between the countries in which North Korea could potentially seek Russian technologies to advance Kim’s nuclear, missile and other military programmes in exchange for providing Russia with badly needed munitions.
Videos released by Russia’s Defence Ministry showed Shoigu greeting Kim at the airport along with honour guards lined up near a red carpet.
Kim was seen peering at the Kinzhal missile and gesturing and asking questions about the warplanes’ capabilities as he discussed technical details with Shoigu and other military officials through the translators.