Kim Jong Un Pledges Support to Vladimir Putin and Russia – Rolling Stone

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un promised his “full and unconditional” support to Russia’s Vladimir Putin during a Wednesday summit between the two nations. 

The meeting at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, one of the largest spaceports in Russia, reportedly centered around a discussion of military cooperation between the two nations. Putin is currently in need of arms assistance in his war against Ukraine, while Kim has been seeking technology that would aid North Korea in launching spy satellites for some time now. 

North Korea is one of the few remaining nations with a large stockpile of Soviet-era munitions, much of which was provided to them by the Soviet Union during the Korean War. 

“Russia is currently engaged in a just fight against hegemonic forces to defend its sovereign rights, security and interests,” Kim said during his opening remarks. “The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has always expressed its full and unconditional support for all measures taken by the Russian government and I take this opportunity to reaffirm that we will always stand with Russia on the anti-imperialist front and the front of independence,”

Putin opened the state dinner honoring Kim by stating that his visit “is taking place in a truly comradely, friendly, benevolent atmosphere.”

Following the meeting, Putin called the discussion between the two leaders “highly productive,” and a “candid exchange of views.” The Russian dictator also confirmed that Kim would be traveling to Komsomolsk-on-Amur and Vladivostok to tour military and civilian military equipment factories, as well as research laboratories. The North Korean delegation will further be treated to a military demonstration by the Russian Pacific Fleet during their visit. 

Earlier this month, the U.S. National Security Council warned that negotiations between the two nations could result in violations of sanctions. 

“We will continue to call it out, and we will continue to call on North Korea to abide by its public commitments not to supply weapons to Russia that will end up killing Ukrainians – over time, we have not seen them actively supply large amounts of munitions or other military capacity to Russia for the war in Ukraine,” National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in early September.