In this photo released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, center right, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, left, and Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, center left, visit the Admiral Shaposhnikov frigate of the Russian navy in the port of Vladivostok, Russian Far East Saturday, on September 16, 2023
| Photo Credit: AP

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected Russian nuclear-capable strategic bombers, hypersonic missiles and warships on September 16, accompanied by President Vladimir Putin’s Defence Minister.

A smiling Mr. Kim was greeted in Russia’s Knevichi airfield, about 50 km (30) miles from the Pacific city of Vladivostok, by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, who saluted Mr. Kim. The North Korean leader then inspected a guard of honour.

The United States and South Korea fear the revival of Moscow’s friendship with Pyongyang could give Mr. Kim access to some of Russia’s sensitive missile and other technology while helping arm Russia in its war in Ukraine.

Mr. Shoigu showed Kim Mr. Russia’s strategic bombers — the Tu-160, Tu-95 and Tu-22M3 — which are capable of carrying nuclear weapons and form the backbone of Russia’s nuclear air attack force, Russia’s Defence Ministry said.

“It can fly from Moscow to Japan and then back again,” Mr. Shoigu told Mr. Kim of one aircraft.

Mr. Kim was shown asking about how the missiles were fired from the aircraft, at times nodding and smiling.

Mr. Shoigu showed him the MiG-31I supersonic interceptor aircraft equipped with “Kinzhal” hypersonic missiles. The Kinzhal, or dagger, is an air-launched ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear or conventional warheads.

It has a reported range of 1,500 to 2,000 km (930-1,240 miles) while carrying a payload of 480 kg (1,100 pounds). It may travel at up to 10 times the speed of sound (12,000 kph, 7,700 mph).

After the aircraft and missiles, Mr. Kim inspected the warship of Russia’s Pacific fleet in Vladivostok, where he was due to watch a demonstration by the Russian navy.

South Korea and the United States said on Friday that military cooperation between North Korea and Russia violated U.N. sanctions against Pyongyang and that the allies would ensure there was a price to pay.

Russia has gone out of its way to publicise Mr. Kim’s visit and drop repeated hints about the prospect of military cooperation with North Korea, which was formed in 1948 with the backing of the Soviet Union.

For Mr. Putin, who says Moscow is locked in an existential battle with the West over Ukraine, courting Mr. Kim allows him to needle Washington and its Asian allies while potentially securing a deep supply of artillery for the Ukraine war.

Washington has accused North Korea of providing arms to Russia, which has the world’s biggest store of nuclear warheads, but it is unclear whether any deliveries have been made.

Mr. Kim on Friday inspected a Russian fighter jet factory that is under Western sanctions.

He and Mr. Putin discussed military matters, the war in Ukraine and deepening cooperation when they met on Wednesday. Putin told reporters Russia was “not going to violate anything”, but would keep developing relations with North Korea.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters there had not been a plan to sign any formal agreements during the visit.

Russian diplomats said Washington had no right to lecture Moscow after the United States had bolstered its allies across the world, including with a visit of a U.S. nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine to South Korea in July.

A photo showing North Korea’s missile launch is displayed at the Unification Observation Post in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. S
| Photo Credit: AP

North Korea fired two ballistic missiles off its east coast, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Japanese Coast Guard said on Wednesday, September 13, 2023, just hours before leader Kim Jong Un was expected to meet President Vladimir Putin in Russia.

It was the first such launch to occur while Kim was abroad for a rare trip, analysts said.

No details on the size or range of the missiles were immediately available. But about five minutes after the first launch warning, Japan’s Coast Guard reported the missile had fallen into the sea.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters that Japan had lodged a protest against North Korea through diplomatic channels in Beijing.

Both missiles fell in the sea outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), he added.

The nuclear-armed North has conducted regular launches of everything from short-range and cruise missiles to massive intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that can strike the continental United States.

UNSC resolutions

All of North Korea’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapons activities are banned by United Nations Security Council resolutions that were last passed with the support of Pyongyang’s partners in China and Russia in 2017.

Since then, Beijing and Moscow have called for sanctions to be eased on the North to jumpstart diplomatic talks and improve the humanitarian situation.

Mr. Kim didn’t leave his country for six years after taking power in 2011 when his father died.

In 2018 and 2019 he visited China, South Korea, Singapore, Vietnam and Russia in nine separate trips, but his current visit in Russia is the first since then.

How Mr. Kim maintains command and control over his country’s missile and nuclear forces while abroad is unclear, but analysts say recent drills have revealed a system for overseeing nuclear weapons similar to those used in the United States and Russia.

A report in March by the 38 North programme, which tracks North Korea, said state media announcements outlined a process that includes commanders of units and various sub-units, a launch approval system, and “technical and mechanical devices” governing nuclear weapons control.

Seoul:

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has said his first visit to Russia in nearly four years was a clear show of the “strategic importance” of the two countries’ relations, state media KCNA reported on Wednesday.

“Kim Jong Un said that his visit to the Russian Federation … is a clear manifestation of the stand of the WPK and the government of the DPRK prioritizing the strategic importance of DPRK-Russia relations,” the report said.

The DPRK stands for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, while the WPK is the Workers’ Party of Korea, the sole ruling party in the reclusive country.

Kim’s visit to Russia marks his first foreign visit after the worldwide public health crisis, KCNA said, referring to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kim arrived at the border town of Khasan in Russia early Tuesday morning, state media confirmed, and was greeted by senior officials from Moscow and local areas at the train station.

His visit seeks to put DPRK-Russia relations of friendship and cooperation on a “fresh higher level,” the report said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has arrived in Russia, after travelling from Pyongyang on his luxury armoured train for a summit with President Vladimir Putin in Vladivostok. The trip marks Kim’s first visit abroad in more than four years and the first since the Covid-19 pandemic, the Guardian reported. 

According to a BBC report, Kim spent 20 hours travelling 1,180km (733 miles) on the slow-moving green-and-yellow train, in accordance with a long-standing tradition followed by North Korean leaders. When it comes to international trips, he is well-known for his preference for train travel.

The train’s heavy armoured protection makes it rattle at a speed of about 50km/h (31mph) which is much slower than most modern trains.

The mysterious dark green train which has 90 carriages also features tinted windows to obscure the identities of those on board the machine. Each carriage is completely bulletproof, making the train thousands of pounds heavier. 

It also has a restaurant that carries expensive French wine and passengers could feast on live lobster and pork barbeque. Apart from that, the train has conference rooms, audience chambers, and bedrooms, with satellite phones and flat-screen televisions installed for briefings.

Tradition of long-distance travel via train

Kim Jong Un’s grandfather Kim Il Sung was the one who started the tradition of long-distance travel via train after he started going on train trips to Vietnam and Eastern Europe. Notably, the leader’s father and predecessor, Kim Jong Il, was famously scared of flying. He once took 10 days to get to Moscow in 2001 to hold a meeting with Mr Putin.

Security agents heavily guard these luxurious trains and scan the routes and stations ahead for bombs and other threats. 

Kim Jong Un, the current leader of North Korea, has continued the family tradition and believes the armoured train provides more security and luxury than a flight.

According to anNPR report, he traveled around 4,500 kilometers through China in his train to reach Vietnam to meet President Donald Trump. The journey took two-and-a-half days.

Russian military commander Konstantin Pulikovsky also talked of the train’s opulence, boasting how it was possible to order ”any dish of Russian, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and French cuisine” aboard the train. 

Even Mr. Putin’s private train “did not have the comfort of Kim Jong Il’s train,” Mr. Pulikovsky noted. 

Experts suggest the Russian president is seeking artillery shells and antitank missiles from North Korea for Moscow’s war in Ukraine, while Kim is reportedly in search of advanced technology for satellites and nuclear-powered submarines, as well as food aid for his impoverished nation.

He is accompanied by unspecified members of the country’s ruling party, government, and military.