Russia’s Putin to visit North Korea, amid growing military cooperation

The visit will also highlight the longevity of autocratic leadership in both countries: Putin last visited North Korea 24 years ago, soon after he became president for the first time, when the country was led by Kim Jong Il, the current leader’s father.

The visit was announced by Russian and North Korean media.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday hailed the state of relations between the two countries.

“The potential for developing our bilateral relations is very deep,” Peskov said, according to Interfax. “We believe that our right to develop good relations with our neighbors should not cause concern to anyone and cannot and should not be disputed by anyone.”

Putin’s trip will reciprocate Kim’s visit to Russia’s Far East in September last year, when the North Korean leader called his country’s relations with Russia his top priority and pledged support for Moscow’s “sacred struggle” against Ukraine.

The White House has repeatedly accused North Korea of sending “equipment and munitions” to Russia to replenish its dwindling supplies for the war in Ukraine, including ballistic missiles with a range of roughly 550 miles and missile launchers.

North Korea is believed to have a large stockpile of dated artillery shells and rockets that would be compatible with Soviet and Russian weapons systems used in Ukraine, as well as a production capacity that would help Russia maintain its high ammunition burn rate as the Kremlin seeks to scale up domestic production.

Pyongyang, for its part, is seeking to boost its beleaguered economy — it is grappling with financial hardship and food insecurity following pandemic isolation and years of sanctions — and get access to Moscow’s advanced technology for its satellite and nuclear weapons programs.

During the September trip, Putin took Kim to the Vostochny Cosmodrome, which symbolizes Moscow’s ambitions for pioneering space technology. At the time, U.S. and South Korean officials warned that North Korea might be seeking critical technologies from Russia to boost Pyongyang’s nuclear and weapons ambitions as missiles and rockets use much of the same technology.

North Korea’s space agency in November put a “space launch vehicle” — its name for what appears to be a military satellite — into orbit after two failed attempts. Kim lauded the satellite as a “space guard” that would intensify his regime’s hostile reconnaissance on enemy nations, and the North Korean state media claimed it had photographed sensitive military and political sites in South Korea and the United States, although it did not release any imagery.

Still, experts said in February that the satellite was “alive” after observing maneuvers that suggest Pyongyang was controlling the spacecraft.

Lyric Li in Seoul and Robyn Dixon in Riga, Latvia, contributed to this report.