Russian President Vladimir Putin has indicated that the country could help North Korea develop its space program and satellites. The speech takes place after the meeting between the Russian and North Korean heads of state, Kim Jong-un.
“The leader of North Korea shows great interest in space, in rockets, and is trying to develop space. We will show our new objects,” Putin said.
Even so, he highlighted that they will talk “about all matters without haste, there is time”.
See also — What does the meeting between Putin and Kim Jong-Un in Russia mean?
A video released by the Kremlin on Wednesday showed the two leaders shaking hands before visiting the Russian space center and adjacent rocket complex where launch vehicles are assembled and tested, according to Russian state media.
North Korea has made space technology a priority, but it still has some way to go, having tested and failed twice this year in an attempt to launch a spy satellite into orbit.
Kim also emphasized the role of military satellites as a means of protecting national security and territorial stability and spoke of their strategic value in preemptively deploying military force, North Korean state media reported in April.
Providing this type of technology to North Korea would constitute a violation of international sanctions designed to hinder Pyongyang’s ability to build a fully functional nuclear weapons and ballistic missile system.
The meeting between the two leaders, which lasted about five hours, was “very substantive,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to Russian news agency RIA. Peskov also stated that North Korea “shows enormous interest in developing bilateral ties with Russia.”
Putin also described to Russia 1 that there was a “frank exchange of views”, which he classified as “highly productive”.
In response to the leaders’ meeting, United States Ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said Russia’s involvement with North Korea was a mark of its desperation.
Meeting at the space center is “provocative”
During the trip, the two leaders inspected the complex where Russia plans to launch its next generation of spacecraft.
The facilities were built to receive launch vehicles, carry out preparations, launches and post-launch operations, state news agency TASS reported.
Analysts reckon the location of Wednesday’s summit, the space center, has significance.
“The meeting at Russia’s eastern spaceport is particularly provocative because it suggests that Putin may offer sanctions-violating satellite launch technology in exchange for North Korean munitions that Moscow would deploy in its illegal war in Ukraine,” said Leif-Eric Easley, professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, CNN.
Russia needs ammunition and rockets after more than 18 months of war in Ukraine left its military hobbled, while North Korea, which has faced years of international sanctions over its nuclear weapons program, lacks everything from money to living and food to rocket technology.
North Korea also signaled that the meeting would deepen ties between the two countries.
Meeting between Putin and Kim Jong-un
Kim Jong-un arrived in Russia on Tuesday aboard his heavily armored private train, accompanied by party and military leaders, according to photos shared by North Korean state media.
During a stop in the border town of Khasan, he was received by Russian officials, and noted that his trip was a “clear demonstration” of Pyongyang “prioritizing the strategic importance” of Moscow-Pyongyang relations, state media reported.
Former US National Security Advisor John Bolton warned on Tuesday that the meeting between Putin and Kim is “quite significant” and “goes far beyond a potential arms deal.”
“From North Korea’s point of view, this brings them back into really meaningful contact with Russia for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union,” Bolton told CNN.
After the talks, Kremlin spokesman Peskov stressed that “North Korea is our close neighbor,” according to state media.
“And despite any external comments, we will build relationships with our neighbors in a way that is beneficial to us and them,” warned the spokesperson.
Also in the North Korean delegation is second-in-command military officer Ri Pyong Chol, the target of US and UN sanctions for his role in leading the country’s ballistic missile programs as former head of the Department of Munitions Industry, photos show from KCNA.
North Korean leader and high-ranking official Kim Yo Jong’s sister was also seen alongside her brother as he signed a guest book.
Accompanying Putin was Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who visited Pyongyang in July. Putin told reporters on Wednesday that Shoigu “was well received” in North Korea and “we have many questions.”
*published by Tiago Tortella, from CNN
Source: CNN Brasil
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