Kim John Un of North Korea swore “full and unconditional support” for President Vladimer Putin when they met this Wednesday at a Russian spaceport in the far east. U.S. experts believe this may lead to an onslaught of weapons trading between the two countries in the midst of the war in Ukraine.
“Korea is our neighbor. One way or another, we must build good neighborly relations with our neighbors,” Putin said after meeting with the Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. He claimed that his discussions with North Korea would remain open and that Russia “never violated anything,” in talking with them.
A few days ago, Kim John Un visited Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Russia, to tour the Yuri Gargarin aircraft plant, named after a famous Russian cosmonaut. The plant is the country’s largest provider of military fighter jets, and Kim John Un’s father, Kim Jong II visited the plant as well in the early 2000s.
“We see the potential for cooperation both in aircraft manufacturing and in other industries — this is especially relevant for achieving the tasks our countries face to achieve technological sovereignty,” says Denis Manturov, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister after the tour.
Negotiations between North Korea and Russia had been brewing for months during the war as both of their international reputations had declined. The Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited a few months ago “to try and convince Pyongyang to sell artillery ammunition” to the Kremlin, says Adrienne Watson, U.S. National Security Council spokesperson.
At first, the U.S. had urged Pyongyang to not enact arms deals with Russia, however later on, the U.S. government accused North Korea of providing the Wagner Group with weapons. Pyongyang denied connections to this.
The new agreement between North Korea and Russia has been likened to the countries’ relations doing a 180 since the Korean War. During that time, Russia provided North Korea with weapons for invading South Korea, and now for the Ukraine conflict, it’s the opposite.
Putin requesting military help suggests that after about 19 months of fighting, Russia may be in need of resources and allies. According to CNN, Russia has lost approximately 10,000 units of equipment ranging from tanks to drones. While they may have difficulty manufacturing new weapons, they still have plenty in stock from the post-Cold War. However, Russia would still reap benefits from reaching out and creating more militant alliances to keep their hold on Ukraine.
Russia has already sought other deals with other pro-Russia countries. Weapons have passed between Iran and Russia. In return, the Kremlin had promised to provide the capital, Tehran, with militant security. While Russia denies the exchange of weapons, Ukraine soldiers have repeatedly reported shooting down Iranian planes.
All of these signs point to Russia needing to find resources and allies after being internationally tabooed. However, the more they search, the more countries come to their military aid.
