Kim Jong Un to meet Putin as Russia seeks closer military ties with North Korea: Report

WASHINGTON - Mr Kim Jong Un plans to travel to Russia in September to meet President Vladimir Putin and discuss the possibility of supplying Moscow with weapons for the war in Ukraine, as Russia says it is seeking closer military ties with North Korea.

In a rare trip abroad, Mr Kim would travel from Pyongyang, probably by armoured train, to Vladivostok on the Pacific coast of Russia where he would meet Mr Putin, The New York Times reported on Monday, citing American and allied sources.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby

said on Aug 30

that the US was concerned that arms negotiations between the two countries were advancing.

While in Vladivostok, a port city not far from North Korea, the two leaders would discuss Mr Kim’s sending Russia artillery shells and anti-tank missiles in exchange for Moscow’s advanced technology for satellites and nuclear-powered submarines, the newspaper reported.

At a time when the United States has expressed concern about growing military ties between the two countries, the news of Mr Kim’s planned visit came after Russia said it was discussing holding joint military exercises with North Korea.

“Why not? These are our neighbours. There is an old Russian saying: You don’t choose your neighbours and it is better to live with your neighbours in peace and harmony,” Interfax news agency quoted Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu as saying on Monday.

When asked about the possibility of joint exercises between the two countries, he said they were “of course” being discussed, it said.

South Korean news agency Yonhap earlier cited the country’s intelligence agency as saying Mr Shoigu, who

visited Pyongyang in July,

had proposed to Mr Kim that their countries hold a naval exercise, along with China.

Cold War allies

The Kremlin said last week that Moscow intends to deepen its “mutually respectful relations” with Pyongyang, one of its close Cold War allies and also one of a small handful of countries to back Russia’s proclaimed annexation of parts of Ukraine in 2022.

The New York Times reported that Mr Kim could possibly go to Moscow, although that was not certain.

Mr Kim’s reclusive late father Kim Jong Il, who famously shunned planes and travelled by armoured trains only, last visited Russia just months before his death in 2011.

Mr Shoigu visited Pyongyang for the

70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War

in July – celebrated in North Korea as Victory Day – with South Korea’s National Intelligence Service saying that he appeared to have held a private meeting with Mr Kim, reported Yonhap.

The US said last week it was concerned that arms negotiations between Russia and North Korea were advancing actively, and that Mr Shoigu had tried during his visit to convince Pyongyang to sell artillery ammunition to Moscow.

On Saturday, Russia’s Ambassador to North Korea Alexander Matsegora told Tass news agency that he was not aware of any plans for the North to participate in trilateral military drills with China and Russia, but that in his opinion, it would be “appropriate” in the light of US-led exercises in the region.

Russia and North Korea have recently called for closer military ties, but Pyongyang has denied having any “arms dealings” with Moscow.

The US recently imposed sanctions on three entities it accused of being tied to arms deals between North Korea and Russia.

North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests since 2006 and had been testing various missiles over recent years, but it rarely holds military exercises with its neighbours.

The US and its ally, South Korea, hold regular joint military exercises, which North Korea denounces as preparations for war against it. REUTERS