UPDATE
Sep 12, 2023 2:31 AM CDT
North Korea's Kim Jong Un arrived in Russia on Tuesday for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin where they are expected to offer each other increased support in their escalating standoffs with the West, the AP reports. North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said Kim boarded his personal train bound for Russia on Sunday afternoon, accompanied by members of the ruling party, government, and military. Russian news agencies quoted Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov as confirming Kim had entered Russia, and reported that his train had crossed the Razdolnaya River, north of Vladivostok. Putin arrived in Vladivostok Monday to attend an international forum that runs through Wednesday; Peskov said Putin and Kim will meet after the Vladivostok forum, but the reports didn't specify when or where.
Sep 11, 2023 6:43 AM CDT
A North Korean train presumably carrying leader Kim Jong Un has departed for Russia for a possible meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, South Korean media said Monday. Citing unidentified South Korean government sources, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported that the train likely left the North Korean capital of Pyongyang on Sunday evening, and that a Kim-Putin meeting is possible as early as Tuesday, per the AP. The Yonhap news agency and other media published similar reports. Japan's Kyodo news agency cited Russian officials as saying that Kim was possibly heading for Russia in his personal train. South Korea's presidential office, Defense Ministry, and National Intelligence Service didn't immediately confirm those details.
US officials released intelligence last week that North Korea and Russia were arranging a meeting between their leaders that would take place this month as they expand their cooperation in the face of deepening confrontations with the United States. A possible venue for the meeting is the eastern Russian city of Vladivostok, where Putin arrived Monday to attend an international forum that runs through Wednesday, according to Russia's Tass news agency. The city was also the site of Putin's first meeting with Kim in 2019. Per US officials, Putin could focus on securing more supplies of North Korean artillery and other ammunition to refill declining reserves as he seeks to defuse a Ukrainian counteroffensive and show that he's capable of grinding out a long war of attrition.
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In exchange, Kim could seek badly 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, analysts say. After a complicated, hot-and-cold relationship over decades, Russia and North Korea have been drawing closer to each other since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. North Korea is the only nation aside from Russia and Syria to recognize the independence of two Russian-backed separatist regions in eastern Ukraine—Donetsk and Luhansk—and it has also hinted at an interest in sending construction workers to those areas to help with rebuilding efforts. Much more here.
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