Thea Fathanah Arbar, CNBC Indonesia
Thursday, 09/14/2023 22:27 IWST
Photo: Russian President Valdimir Putin and North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un during a meeting at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, Wednesday (13/9/2023). (Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Kremlin via REUTERS)
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un raised questions. This is because the two parties did not hold a press conference, did not issue a communiqué, and did not publicly announce the agreement resulting from the meeting.
Their meeting in Russia only produced information such as Putin and Kim shaking hands at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Amur Region, Kim getting a ride in Putin’s Russian-made Aurus limousine, and Kim giving a toast to Putin, promising that Russia would punish the evil forces that were interfering with Putin.
But Putin appeared to provide potential assistance to Kim when his own government was hit by sanctions over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which appeared to hinder access to Russian technology.
During a visit to the cosmodrome, a reporter asked Putin whether Russia would help North Korea launch its own satellites and rockets and he responded with, “That’s why we came here.”
“North Korean leaders show great interest in space, rocketry, and they are trying to develop outer space. We will show our new objects,” said Putin, quoted from CNN International, Thursday (14/9/2203).
Last July, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu went to Pyongyang with a shopping list. After a year and a half of high-intensity fighting in Ukraine, Russia’s ammunition stocks have been severely depleted.
Photo: Russian President Valdimir Putin and North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un during a meeting at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, Wednesday (13/9/2023). (Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Kremlin via REUTERS)
Russian President Valdimir Putin and North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un during a meeting at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, Wednesday (13/9/2023). (Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Kremlin via REUTERS)
At that time, United States (US) officials warned that North Korea and Russia were considering a possible deal to increase supplies for the war against Ukraine. North Korea is known to have quite a large arsenal on the Korean peninsula.
This provides potential rewards for Pyongyang. The Kim regime is very isolated. Various sanctions have targeted North Korea for its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Even Russia has signed sanctions against North Korea in the past.
However, this provides great uncertainty regarding potential technology exchanges between North Korea and Russia. The US believes Pyongyang has been a player in the Ukraine war and provided weapons to the Russian mercenary group Wagner.
But Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner’s founder, dismissed the accusations as gossip and speculation before he died when his plane fell from the sky last month.
If Russia handed over this launch technology to North Korea, the world would likely witness the broader global impact of Europe’s largest land war since 1945. Additionally, the convergence of two pariah states would likely occur in an unexpected and dangerous way.
Watch the video below:
Video: Supporting War, Kim Jong Un Believes Russia Will Win
(dce)
2023-09-14 15:27:16
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