La Russia will help North Korea in the creation and launch of satellites into space and Pyongyang has offered “unconditional support to Russia's sacred battle for its own security and against the forces of imperialism”. The North Korean dictator said so Kim Jong Un inmeeting with the Russian president Vladimir Putin. At the center is the transfer of Russian technology in exchange for North Korean munitions to be used on the Ukrainian front. The two leaders also committed to strengthening their commercial and political relations but in the background the main issue remains, the one dear to China and other countries as well. emerging powers: to undermine the Western cultural hegemony which sees the United States as the leading world power.
The US has already said that a military agreement between the two isolated autocrats would lead to a escalation of sanctions. The UN has banned North Korea from selling weapons abroad and Resolution 2270 prohibits Pyongyang from collaborating with any other member state in the field of ballistic missiles "even if it involves launching satellites or spacecraft". Resolution which was voted favorably by Russia. But now things have changed after the invasion of Ukraine: Putin needs anti-Western allies.
Kim Jong Un's first outing
The meeting lasted about two hours, and not only is it the first between the two leaders since 2019, but it is also the North Korean leader's first international trip for almost four years, that is, since North Korea completely closed the own borders to avoid the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic and which ultimately proved to be quite ineffective. Since the pandemic, North Korea had interrupted trade relations with all neighboring or allied countries (including Russia and China), also stopping imports of food, fuel and fertilizers. The result? A major economic crisis and a worrying shortage of food throughout the country.
Despite this, the Kim regime has never stopped producing weapons and supplying them on parallel markets, investing in war and nuclear program most of its resources. It appears that he has a significant quantity of ammunition, rockets and artillery shells at his disposal, compatible with those already in use by the Russian army.
The Putin-Kim Jong Un meeting: here's what happened
“Russia is a self-sufficient country, but within the current rules there are opportunities that we pay attention to and discuss,” the Russian leader said. Pyongyang, for its part, fully supported it Russian aggression in Ukraine, explaining that he supports all decisions of the Russian authorities and intends to remain alongside the Kremlin to "fight against imperialism". “Russia has now risen in a sacred struggle to defend its state sovereignty and security in the fight against the hegemonic forces opposing Russia,” the North Korean dictator said during dinner with Putin.
In the hours in which Kim was preparing to meet Putin, South Korea signaled the ballistic missile launch by Pyongyang towards Sea of Japan. Tokyo later announced that neither of the two launched ballistic carriers landed in Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), and no damage to ships or planes was reported. Cabinet chief Hirokazu Matsuno said at a news conference that the government had lodged a formal protest with North Korea through its embassy in Beijing.
