What does Putin’s official visit mean for Kim Jong-un? – DW – 06/19/2024

With Vladimir Putin in North Korea, both Moscow and Pyongyang hope to strengthen ties between the two countries, which have been marginalized in much of the world.

This negotiation will result in a continuation of economic and military efforts. Analysts warn that some deals, particularly those related to arms transfers and advanced missile and satellite technology, are likely to remain secret.

Beyond those deals, both sides are eager to demonstrate political prowess. Kim Jong-un seeks to burnish his image as a major world leader, and Putin wants Russia to still have friends, allies and be able to travel abroad despite arrest warrants issued against him by the International Criminal Court and children in Ukraine by Russian troops.

Kim “Wins” While Putin Gets

“The list of countries willing to host Putin is shorter than ever, but for Kim Jong-un the visit is a success,” said Leif-Erik Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Women’s University in South Korea.

“The summit will not only improve North Korea’s standing among countries opposed to the US-led international order, but also improve Kim’s domestic legitimacy,” he said.

“Putin’s visit was, in part, to thank North Korea for acting as an ‘arsenal of autocracy’ in support of its illegal occupation of Ukraine,” Easley added.

Moscow and Pyongyang, against US “double standards”.

Even before landing in Pyongyang, Putin had announced the creation of new systems for international trade and payments. Russia was excluded from the international cooperation framework by the West because of the war in Ukraine. Similarly, North Korea has been unable to access banking and other business services because of its nuclear weapons and missile programs.

In a newspaper article Rodang Sinmun In North Korea, on Tuesday (06/19/2024) morning, Putin said that the relationship between the two countries is “based on equality, mutual respect and trust”.

He thanked North Korea for Pyongyang’s support for “special military action” in Ukraine, and the US is doing everything it can to impose on the world what it calls a “rules-based order,” essentially a “global neo-colonial dictatorship based on ‘double standards’.”

Putin’s “Refined Skills and Strong Will”

Yakov Zinberg, a Russian-born professor of international relations at Kokushikan University in Japan, considers Putin’s visit to Pyongyang “threatening.”

“This is a calculated threat against the US-South Korea-Japan security alliance in the region and is designed to send a message that he is not only strong against NATO in Europe, but also strong in the Far East,” he said. .

Zinberg hopes Kim will commit to providing Russia with more artillery in addition to the millions of rounds of ammunition that analysts believe have already been sent to the front lines in Ukraine. In return, Putin will continue to provide technical support for nuclear, missile and space programs.

Lim Yoon-jung, an associate professor of international studies at South Korea’s Kongju National University, said Kim made a “strategic decision” to support Russia from the start of the Ukraine invasion, in part because he relied on China to gain political support on the world stage.

Natural resources in exchange for labor

Putin would agree to supply the North Korean economy with natural resources, including oil and gas, and Kim would agree to send more workers to Russia to offset shortages caused by military conscription.

Kim, according to Lim, may be making the most of the deal, but Kim’s friends in China may oppose North Korea’s rapprochement with Russia: “This is a big concern for Seoul, Tokyo and Washington, but also for Beijing.”

“The alignment of such states is a threat to global trade and peace,” the professor said. However, “these states do not share the institutions and values ​​of an enduring alliance; they are only weakly united by opposition to the application of international laws and norms.”

(rmr/rml)