The supreme leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un, reiterated his “unconditional” backing of all Russian operations during its conflict in Ukraine, as he greeted Moscow’s chief diplomat at a recently constructed coastal resort in his nation’s eastern region.
Kim encountered Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the North Korean locale of Wonsan, during a period when Pyongyang is being drawn further into the three-year-old dispute.
During their discussion, Kim verified his administration’s dedication to “unreservedly support and promote all actions” undertaken by Russia in Ukraine, the Associated Press conveyed, referencing the official Korean Central News Agency.
Images shared by Russia’s Foreign Ministry displayed the pair smiling and clasping hands, and seated opposite one another at a compact round table inside a yacht’s cabin.
Lavrov’s visit occurs at a pivotal juncture for Russian-North Korean ties, with Pyongyang preparing to dispatch an extra 25,000 to 30,000 troops to aid Moscow’s intensified offensive in Ukraine, according to Ukrainian intelligence – supplementing the approximated 11,000 troops Pyongyang deployed the prior year.
It also transpires as the United States has become progressively dissatisfied with Russia. US President Donald Trump has accused his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin of presenting “bullsh*t” during peace negotiations, and promised increased assistance for Kyiv.
The visit might additionally reinforce an alliance that holds the capacity to transform not just the war but also the security landscape in Asia.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry posted on X that Putin conveyed “his heartfelt regards” to Kim, “and reaffirms commitment to all the prior understandings.”
Lavrov, who landed in North Korea on Friday for a three-day stay, also convened with his North Korean counterpart Choe Son Hui in Wonsan Saturday, Russia’s foreign ministry stated on Telegram.
“We shared perspectives on the circumstances surrounding the Ukrainian situation,” Lavrov was cited as remarking by Russian state news outlet TASS at a press briefing following that meeting. “Our Korean associates affirmed their unwavering support for all the goals of the special military operation, as well as for the deeds of the Russian leadership and armed forces.”
Regarding what Pyongyang receives in exchange for such backing, Robert Kelly, professor of political science at Pusan National University in South Korea, expressed “the genuine worry… is what are the North Koreans obtaining concerning the weapons of mass destruction program?”
Despite years of diplomacy and penalties designed to halt its nuclear initiative, the Kim government is believed to possess numerous nuclear arms, along with missiles that could potentially strike the United States.
“Are the Russians providing the North Koreans guidance technology, are they providing it warhead reentry technology, perhaps they are giving it drone technology,” Kelly informed CNN’s Brian Abel.
Moscow is also probably compensating the impoverished country “at a minimum a per head, a per capita, price for each North Korean soldier that’s been deployed,” Kelly suggested.
Dispatching soldiers “about whom the North Korean regime doesn’t care at all,” in return for extremely “valuable technological material from the Russians,” is a “really, really good advantage for the North Koreans because they’re acquiring something that they can’t produce domestically,” he noted.
At the commencement of his discussion with Choe, Lavrov voiced his hope that Russian sightseers would soon have the chance to explore the Wonsan resort, inaugurated last month and lauded by state media as a “national treasure-level tourism city.”
Footage circulated online on October 18, 2024, shows North Korean troops at a training range in Sergeyevka, Primorsky Krai, Russia. – EyePress News/Reuters
“I am confident that Russian travelers will be increasingly eager to visit here. We will exert every effort to facilitate this, establishing conditions for this, including air transportation,” Lavrov stated, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
According to KCNA, Kim personally severed the ribbon on the expansive Kalma seaside resort featuring waterparks, towering hotels, and lodging for nearly 20,000 visitors – a striking demonstration of extravagance in one of the globe’s most isolated countries.
The Kalma beach resort is adjacent to an international airfield, another indication the endeavor is geared towards attracting foreign currency.
The previous year, small clusters of Russian vacationers toured North Korea for three-day skiing getaways at Maskiryong resort, which has been a longstanding tourist destination since its debut in December 2013.
Lavrov departed North Korea Sunday and arrived in China, where he will participate in a gathering of foreign ministers from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation member nations, Russia’s foreign ministry conveyed.
Integrated into Russia’s war
Despite incurring substantial battlefield losses, North Korea has become progressively enmeshed in Russia’s war. An estimated 4,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded in Russia, according to Western authorities.
On the ground in the Russian border region of Kursk, where North Korean soldiers assisted in repelling Ukraine’s incursion last year, the secluded state’s soldiers are reportedly residing in trenches, fighting – and perishing – alongside Russian forces.
Satellite imagery acquired by CNN revealed cargo aircraft and troop transport vessels traversing between North Korea and Russia, alluding to significant military logistics underway.
Confronting shortages on the battlefront, even as its own factories operate continuously, Russia has grown reliant on North Korea for supplementary weaponry.
Training guides for North Korean artillery have been translated into Russian, as a signal of both the pervasiveness of the weapons and the escalating interoperability between Moscow’s and Pyongyang’s armed forces. A report from 11 UN member states last month indicated that Pyongyang dispatched at least 100 ballistic projectiles and 9 million artillery rounds to Russia in 2024.
Russia has amplified its aerial assault on Ukraine in recent weeks. Ukrainian representatives stated Saturday that Russia had launched its second largest aerial attack on the country overnight since the inception of Moscow’s invasion.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Russia had launched 26 cruise missiles and 597 drones in the offensive, resulting in the deaths of at least two individuals in the western city of Chernivtsi. The majority of the drones and over 20 missiles were “neutralized,” he conveyed.
Russian attacks in Ukraine persisted into the daytime on Saturday, with an additional eight individuals killed in diverse areas of the country, according to regional officials.
On Wednesday, Moscow unleashed a record 728 drones and 13 missiles. The subsequent day, Russian drones assaulted the capital Kyiv from all directions in an evident novel strategy that tested Ukraine’s strained defenses.
CNN’s Kostya Gak, Billy Stockwell and Anna Cooban contributed reporting.
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