Moscow/Seoul : Talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un began on Wednesday at the Vostochny cosmodrome, Russian state news agency Tass reported. The talks, which included their delegations, began shortly after Putin and Kim toured various facilities at the cosmodrome, including two launch pads.
The leaders met at the remote Siberian rocket launch facility for a summit that underscores how the two leaders' interests are aligning in the face of their separate, intensifying confrontations with the United States. The two men began their meeting with a tour of a Soyuz-2 space rocket launch facility, at which the North Korean leader peppered a Russian space official with questions about the rockets.
Earlier, the North Korean leader arrived at a cosmodrome in Russia's Far East for the meeting with Putin that underscores how the two leaders' interests are aligning in the face of their separate, intensifying confrontations with the United States. Putin welcomed Kim at the entrance to a launch vehicle assembly building. The two men shook hands and Putin said he was very glad to see Kim.
Kim's translator thanked Putin for the warm welcome, despite being busy. The two leaders will inspect the cosmodrome and then sit down for talks, Russian state media reported. Hours earlier, North Korea fired two ballistic missiles toward the sea, extending a highly provocative run in North Korean weapons testing since the start of 2022, as Kim used the distraction caused by Putin's war on Ukraine to accelerate his weapons development.
For Putin, the meeting with Kim is an opportunity to refill ammunition stores that the 18-month-old war has drained. For Kim, it's a chance to get around crippling U.N. sanctions and years of diplomatic isolation. Kim is expected to seek economic aid and military technology, though an arms deal would violate international sanctions that Russia supported in the past.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff didn't immediately say how far the North Korean missiles flew. Japan's Coast Guard, citing Tokyo's Defense Ministry, said the missiles have likely already landed but still urged vessels to watch for falling objects. Kim's personal train stopped in Khasan, a station on the Russia-North Korea border, early Tuesday where it was met by a military honor guard and a brass band. He was met on a red carpet by regional Gov. Oleg Kozhemyako and Natural Resources Minister Alexander Kozlov, according to North Korean state media and video posted on social media.
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Kim said his decision to visit Russia four years after his previous visit showed how Pyongyang is prioritizing the strategic importance of its relations with Moscow, North Korea's official news agency said Wednesday. The Korean Central News Agency said Kim then left for his destination, but it didn't specify where.
Putin has been attending an economic forum this week in Vladivostok, a Russian city close to the border where the two leaders had their last meeting, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said the two leaders will meet afterward. But it's not certain where.
Russian news agency RIA-Novosti reported Kim's train headed north after crossing the Razdolnaya River, taking it away from Vladivostok. The South Korean news agency Yonhap later published a photo it said showed the train in Ussuriysk, a city about 60 kilometers (about 40 miles) north of Vladivostok that has a sizable ethnic Korean population.
Some Russian news media speculate he is headed for the Vostochny spaceport, which Putin is to visit soon. The launch facility is about 900 kilometers (550 miles) northwest of Ussuriysk, but the route there is circuitous and it is unclear how long Kim's slow-moving train would take to reach it.
Workers on Wednesday were constructing a temporary wooden platform at a railway station in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, another city in the Russian Far East. Citing unidentified Russian officials, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported that Kim was expected to visit a plant in that city that produces Sukhoi fighter jets after his meeting with Putin.
