2023 North Korea–Russia summit

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2023 North Korea–Russia summit
Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin meeting at Vostochny Cosmodrome in Amur Oblast, Russia (13 September 2023)
DateSeptember 13–17, 2023 (2023-09-13 – 2023-09-17)
LocationVostochny Cosmodrome, Tsiolkovsky, Amur Oblast, Russia
ParticipantsRussia Vladimir Putin (President)
North Korea Kim Jong Un (General Secretary & President of the State Affairs)

The 2023 North Korea–Russia summit was a summit meeting between North Korea and Russia where North Korean General Secretary Kim Jong Un met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on 13 September 2023. The meeting was held at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East.[1] It was part of a visit by Kim Jong Un between 12–17 September.

It is Kim Jong Un's first foreign visit since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in North Korea in 2020.[2]

Meeting[edit]

Background[edit]

In early September 2023, it was reported that Kim Jong Un would be visiting Russia sometime that month.[3] On 10 September, the meeting was confirmed by both sides after Kim Jong Un departed Pyongyang with his personal armoured train that he had previously used to visit Russia in 2019.[4]

Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu attended official celebrations of the 70th anniversary of "Victory Day" in Pyongyang a month prior.[5][6] Since its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has faced severe labor shortages,[7][8] lack of international support and ammunition shortages.[9] There was speculation that the meeting was to centre around the possibility of Russia receiving large amounts of North Korean ammunition stockpiles from the Soviet era, in exchange for Russian help in developing technology and resource aid.[10]

Visit[edit]

Kim arrived in the North Korean leaders' train in Khasan, Primorsky Krai, Russia on 12 September,[11] where he met with Minister of National Resources and Environment Alexander Kozlov and Primorsky Krai governor Oleg Kozhemyako.[12] He then left, and continued, arriving at the Vostochny Cosmodrome on 13 September, where he met with Putin. During the meeting, Kim once again gave his support for Russia's "sacred fight" against the west, expressing his "...support for all the measures taken by the Russian government, and [he] takes this opportunity again to affirm that [he] will always be with Russia." When asked if Russia would help North Korea build satellites, Putin said "that's why [they] came here."[13][14]

Kim, after the summit, visited an advanced fighter jet manufacturing plant under sanctions, in the city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur in Russia on September 15.[15][16]

On 16 September, Kim visited the Mariinsky Theater in Vladivostok, where he watched Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's The Sleeping Beauty. He also visited the Far Eastern Federal University on 17 September, as well as the Primorsky Oceanarium.[17] Kim's trip concluded that day.[18]

Reactions[edit]

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko proposed a three-way cooperation pact with Russia and North Korea.[19]

United States government officials expressed concern with the visit, already seeing North Korea's open support for Russia, and warned that a circumvention of sanctions in the context of military support in the Russian invasion of Ukraine would prompt the United States to identify the methods used to "at least limit their ability to be effective".[20] United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said that "any form of cooperation of any country with North Korea must respect the sanctions regime that was imposed by the Security Council."[20]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "North Korea's Kim vows full support for Russia at a summit with Putin at a Far East spaceport". AP News. 2023-09-13. Archived from the original on 2023-09-13. Retrieved 2023-09-13.
  2. ^ Smith, Josh (12 September 2023). "How Kim Jong Un's meeting with Putin could shake up North Korea-Russia relations". Reuters. Archived from the original on 12 September 2023. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  3. ^ Wong, Edward; Barnes, Julian E. (2023-09-04). "Kim Jong-un and Putin Plan to Meet in Russia to Discuss Weapons". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2023-09-13. Retrieved 2023-09-13.
  4. ^ "Kim Jong Un's Train Headed Toward Russia for Putin Talks". Bloomberg.com. 2023-09-11. Archived from the original on 2023-09-15. Retrieved 2023-09-13.
  5. ^ "North Korea: Kim Jong Un shows off missiles to Russia defence chief Shoigu". July 27, 2023 – via www.bbc.com.
  6. ^ Yim, Hyunsu; Smith, Josh (July 28, 2023). "North Korea's Kim shows off banned missiles to Russian minister" – via www.reuters.com.
  7. ^ Times, The Moscow (August 3, 2023). "Russian Factories Face Record Labor Shortages". The Moscow Times.
  8. ^ "Russia faces highest labor shortage since 1996, survey shows". May 18, 2023.
  9. ^ "Kim Jong Un in Russia: 'The staged rapprochement between Moscow and Pyongyang is designed to exert pressure on Seoul'". Le Monde.fr. September 12, 2023 – via Le Monde.
  10. ^ "Kim Jong Un to visit Russia, expected to meet with Putin". PBS NewsHour. 2023-09-11. Archived from the original on 2023-09-13. Retrieved 2023-09-13.
  11. ^ McCurry, Justin; Roth, Andrew (2023-09-12). "Kim Jong-un arrives in Russia to meet Putin as US threatens sanctions". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2023-09-13. Retrieved 2023-09-13.
  12. ^ Yim, Hyunsu; Choi, Soo-Hyang (2023-09-13). "North Korea's Kim stresses 'strategic importance' of Russia ties ahead of Putin summit". Reuters. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
  13. ^ McCurry, Justin; Roth, Andrew (2023-09-13). "Kim Jong-un offers Putin 'full support' in Russia's 'sacred fight' with west". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2023-09-13. Retrieved 2023-09-13.
  14. ^ "North Korea's Kim vows full support for Moscow at a summit with Putin in Russia". AP News. 2023-09-13. Archived from the original on 2023-09-13. Retrieved 2023-09-13.
  15. ^ "North Korea's Kim gets a close look at Russian fighter jets as his tour narrows its focus to weapons". AP News. September 15, 2023.
  16. ^ Faulconbridge, Guy; Choi, Soo-Hyang; Faulconbridge, Guy (September 15, 2023). "North Korea's Kim inspects Russian fighter jet plant under Western sanctions" – via www.reuters.com.
  17. ^ Ji, Da-gyum (17 September 2023). "Kim Jong-un heads home with drone gifts from Russia". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  18. ^ "North Korea's Kim heads home from Russia's Far East". Reuters. 2023-09-17. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
  19. ^ "Belarus leader proposes three-way cooperation with Russia's Putin and North Korea's Kim". AP News. September 15, 2023.
  20. ^ a b "North Korea's Kim arrives in eastern Russian city for expected visit to fighter jet plant". AP. September 5, 2023. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
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