Kim Jong Un ‘has departed for Russia on board his armoured train’ – amid rumoured meeting to discuss arms deal with Putin

Kim Jong Un is traveling by train to Russia to discuss a possible arms deal, according to reports, and the Kremlin confirmed on Monday that the North Korean dictator received an invitation from Vladimir Putin.

Citing unnamed South Korean government sources, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported that the armored train likely left Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, on Sunday afternoon and that a meeting between Kim and Putin is possible as soon as Tuesday.

The Yonhap news agency and some other outlets published similar reports, while the Japanese news agency Kyodo cited Russian officials as saying that Kim was possibly heading to Russia on his personal train.

North Korea is one of the few countries that has openly supported Russia since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Putin promised last week to “expand bilateral ties in all aspects in a planned way by joining forces.”

A summit between Kim and Putin would likely focus on military cooperation and possibly an arms supply deal, U.S. and South Korean officials and analysts have said.

U.S. officials released intelligence last week that North Korea and Russia were arranging a meeting between their leaders that would take place this month.

The Kremlin confirmed the meeting on Monday.

“At the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, head of State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, will pay an official visit to the Russian Federation in the coming days,” he said in a statement.

The two countries are seen as taking steps to expand their cooperation in the face of deepening confrontations with the United States.

One possible location for the meeting is the eastern Russian city of Vladivostok, where Putin arrived on Monday to attend an international forum that runs through Wednesday, according to the Russian news agency TASS.

The city was also the site of Putin’s first meeting with Kim in 2019.

According to U.S. officials, Putin could focus on securing more supplies of North Korean artillery and other munitions to bolster his stalled invasion and replenish dwindling stockpiles as he seeks to defuse a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

He is also eager to prove that he is capable of carrying out a long war of attrition.

This could potentially put more pressure on the United States and its partners to continue negotiations as concerns grow about a protracted conflict despite its huge shipments of advanced weaponry to Ukraine over the past 17 months.

North Korea has possibly tens of millions of artillery shells and rockets based on Soviet designs that could potentially give the Russian military a big boost, analysts say.

In exchange, Kim could seek much-needed energy and food aid and advanced weapons technologies, including those related to intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear-capable ballistic missile submarines, and military reconnaissance satellites.

There are concerns that potential Russian technology transfers will increase the threat posed by Kim’s growing arsenal of nuclear weapons and missiles designed to attack his enemies, including the United States, South Korea and Japan.

After a complicated, hot and cold relationship for decades, Russia and North Korea have been growing closer since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

The link has been driven by Putin’s need for war assistance and Kim’s efforts to raise the visibility of his partnerships with traditional allies Moscow and Beijing.

It has been taking steps to break diplomatic isolation and make North Korea part of a united front against Washington.

While using the distraction caused by the Ukraine conflict to accelerate its weapons development, North Korea has repeatedly blamed the United States for the crisis in Ukraine, claiming that the West’s “hegemonic policy” justified a Russian offensive in Ukraine to protect itself.

North Korea is the only nation besides Russia and Syria to recognize the independence of two Russian-backed breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine – Donetsk and Luhansk – and has also hinted at interest in sending construction workers to those areas. to assist with rebuilding efforts. .

Russia – along with China – has blocked US-led efforts in the UN Security Council to strengthen sanctions against North Korea for its increasing missile tests.

Moscow also accused Washington of worsening tensions with Pyongyang by expanding military exercises with South Korea and Japan.

The United States has been accusing North Korea since last year of providing weapons to Russia, including artillery shells sold to the Russian mercenary group Wagner.

Both Russian and North Korean officials denied such claims.

But speculation about the countries’ military cooperation grew after Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made a rare visit to North Korea in July, when Kim invited him to a weapons exhibition and a massive military parade in North Korea. capital where he showed off intercontinental ballistic missiles designed to target the United States. continent.

Following Shoigu’s visit, Kim toured North Korea’s weapons factories, including a facility that produces artillery systems, where he urged workers to accelerate development and large-scale production of new types of munitions.

Experts say Kim’s factory visits likely had the dual purpose of encouraging the modernization of North Korean weaponry and examining artillery and other supplies that could possibly be exported to Russia.

Jon Finer, US President Joe Biden’s senior deputy national security adviser, told reporters on Sunday that buying weapons from North Korea “may be the best and only option” open to Moscow as it tries to maintain its war effort.

‘We have serious concerns about the prospect that North Korea could sell weapons, additional weapons, to the Russian military.

“It’s interesting to think for a minute about what it says that when Russia goes around the world looking for partners who can help it, it lands in North Korea,” Finer said aboard a plane carrying Biden from India to Vietnam.

Some analysts say a possible meeting between Kim and Putin would have more to do with symbolic gains than substantial military cooperation.

Russia, which has always closely guarded its most important weapons technologies, even from key allies like China, may be unwilling to engage in major technology transfers with North Korea for what will likely be limited war supplies transported via a small rail link between countries. , they say.