Putin vows to support North Korea against the United States
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[June 18, 2024]
By Hyonhee Shin, Josh Smith and Guy Faulconbridge
SEOUL/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed on
Tuesday to deepen trade and security ties with North Korea and to
support it against the United States, as he headed to the reclusive
nuclear-armed country for the first time in 24 years.
The U.S. and its Asian allies are trying to work out just how far Russia
will go in support of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, whose country is
the only one to have conducted nuclear weapon tests in the 21st century.
In a signal that Russia, a veto-wielding member of the United Nations
Security Council, is reassessing its entire approach to North Korea,
Putin praised Pyongyang for resisting what he said was U.S. economic
pressure, blackmail and threats.
In an article published by North Korean state media, Putin praised
"Comrade" Kim, and promised to "jointly resist illegitimate unilateral
restrictions", to develop trade and strengthen security across Eurasia.
"Washington, refusing to implement previously reached agreements,
continuously puts forward new, increasingly stringent and obviously
unacceptable demands," Putin said in the article, printed on the front
page of North Korea's Rodong Sinmun, the ruling Workers' Party
mouthpiece.
"Russia has always supported and will continue to support the DPRK and
the heroic Korean people in their opposition to the insidious, dangerous
and aggressive enemy."
Putin noted the Soviet Union was the first to recognize the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) founded by Kim's grandfather, Kim Il
Sung, less than two years before the 1950 Korean War.
North Korean state media also published articles praising Russia and
supporting its military operations in Ukraine, calling them a "sacred
war of all Russian citizens".
Putin's state visit comes amid U.S. accusations that North Korea has
supplied "dozens of ballistic missiles and over 11,000 containers of
munitions to Russia" for use in Ukraine. South Korea, a staunch U.S.
ally, has raised similar concerns.
The White House said on Monday it was troubled by the deepening
relationship between Russia and North Korea. The U.S. State Department
said it was "quite certain" Putin would be seeking arms to support his
war in Ukraine.
Moscow and Pyongyang have denied arms transfers but have vowed to boost
military ties, possibly including joint drills.
Russia is due to outproduce the whole NATO military alliance on
ammunition production this year, so Putin's trip is likely aimed at
underscoring to Washington just how disruptive Moscow can be on a host
of global crises.
Russia in March vetoed the annual renewal of a panel of experts
monitoring enforcement of longstanding United Nations sanctions against
North Korea over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes.
PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT
Putin's foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Russia and North
Korea may sign a partnership agreement during the visit that would
include security issues.
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Russia's President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's leader Kim Jong
Un visit the Vostochny Сosmodrome in the far eastern Amur region,
Russia, September 13, 2023. Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Kremlin via
REUTERS/File Photo
He said the deal would not be directed against any other country,
but would "outline prospects for further cooperation".
The visit will include one-on-one discussions between the two
leaders, as well as a gala concert, state reception, honor guards,
document signings, and a statement to the media, Russia's Interfax
news agency quoted Ushakov as saying.
Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov, the ministers for natural resources, health, and transport,
the heads of the Russian space agency and its railways, and Putin's
point man for energy, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, will be
part of the delegation.
Ahead of the visit, North Korea appears to have been making
preparations for a possible military parade in downtown Pyongyang,
commercial satellite imagery showed.
The summit presents the greatest threat to U.S. national security
since the Korean War, said Victor Cha, a former U.S. national
security official now with the Center for Strategic and
International Studies.
"This relationship, deep in history and reinvigorated by the war in
Ukraine, undermines the security of Europe, Asia, and the U.S.
homeland," he wrote in a report on Monday.
He urged Washington to work with Europe and other partners to
increase economic and diplomatic pressure on Pyongyang, engage with
China, and launch a major human rights and information campaign to
flood the North with outside media.
North Korea has been under U.N. sanctions for its ballistic missile
and nuclear programs since 2006, and those measures have been
strengthened over the years.
The Security Council has been divided over how to deal with
Pyongyang.
Russia and China say more sanctions will not help and that joint
military drills by the United States and South Korea merely provoke
Pyongyang. Two years ago, they vetoed a U.S.-led push to impose more
U.N. sanctions on North Korea over its renewed ballistic missile
launches.
Washington and its Asian allies accuse Beijing and Moscow of
emboldening North Korea by shielding it from more sanctions.
After North Korea, Putin will visit Vietnam on June 19-20.
(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin and Josh Smith and Guy Faulconbridge in
Moscow; Additional reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne and
Michelle Nichols in New York; Editing by Gerry Doyle and Gareth
Jones)
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