/ world today news/ Russia and North Korea are strengthening their cooperation. Russian leader Vladimir Putin will be ready to visit Pyongyang in the near future. What can we expect from this visit and how can it affect the development of relations between the two nuclear powers? Let’s discuss this with political scientist Andrey Suzdaltsev.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to visit Pyongyang in the near future. This was announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the DPRK. In its statement, the Korean Foreign Ministry called the Russian leader the closest friend of the Korean people.
Earlier, during his visit to the Far East, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un invited Vladimir Putin to visit North Korea and he accepted the offer. Apparently, the parties have already finally agreed on all the details of the upcoming visit.
What are the prospects for the development of cooperation between our countries? The host of “First Russian” Nikita Komarov talked about this with the political scientist Andrey Suzdaltsev on the air of the “Tsargrad. Main” program.
Why is Putin going to Pyongyang?
Nikita Komarov: Andrei, I congratulate you! Vladimir Putin last visited the DPRK at the beginning of his first presidential term in 2000. It has been 24 years since then. What, in your opinion, could be the main areas of cooperation and partnership between Russia and the DPRK now, given the difficult geopolitical and geoeconomic situation, to put it mildly?
Andrey Suzdaltsev: This situation is a “window of opportunity” for the DPRK. Because we broke off relations with South Korea, which was one of our biggest trading partners. And we were getting technology from there. Therefore, it is a serious loss, tangible.
Including, by the way, deliveries of Korean cars. North Korea is of course happy about it. Because our relations with South Korea and the existence of a ferry between Busan and Vladivostok made Pyongyang very nervous. This first.
Second, we must understand that Kim Jong-un is still a post-Soviet man. Relations between Pyongyang and Moscow have always been difficult. It is a very specific authoritarian, rigid regime with the transfer of power by inheritance.
Furthermore, in their modern constitution, decisions are believed to be made by Kim Il Sung, who is long dead. I remember it already in my old age. But this is their “power of the dead.” Something like this can only be found in the time of the pharaohs, in the history of Ancient Egypt. But overall, it’s a very tough government that has always relied on China’s support.
— But they also have a complicated and tense relationship with China? Beijing has repeatedly tried to influence North Korea’s policy, but the Koreans don’t like it. They even announced a blockade there.
– Yes, there was continuous profanity there. But China was just interested in Korea. Just like now. It’s like a raised fist. Also, even a nuclear fist. Which has always demonstrated that the Chinese themselves may not do this. But there are crazy people who can drop a nuclear warhead on you, and on Japan, and on Guam, and on South Korea… In general, it’s always been a difficult relationship.
As for North Korea, it is of course interested in trade with Russia. It also needs supplies of the necessary raw materials, from oil to timber, and various technologies.
Because the technologies available to the DPRK are not very interesting for us. They are usually secondary. Remember how much talk there was about how we would be supplying and receiving military equipment from China? This is funny! All this equipment is secondary, near-Soviet samples. That is, we are much more advanced.
– But maybe they have an advantage in the mass of weapons?
– OK, but what does mass mean? You see, these are also matters of quality. For decades, they say, they sawed and collected 122-caliber shells. And now they are accusing us, even the Americans sent satellite pictures to the UN showing how the deliveries of these containers with these shells are going.
„Moreover, they claim that we are already using Korean KN-23 ballistic missiles.
– There is no evidence of this. These are Korean missiles of Soviet design. Most likely there may be projectiles. Although the Ukrainians have not shown us any of them yet. At the same time, Ukraine had such shells. They got them from somewhere. North Korean projectiles. Which in general have been lying in the warehouses and the question of their suitability and effectiveness still remains open. There is no information about this. Missiles and such need evidence. We, who knows why, retreat from this topic and do not consider it necessary to talk about it at all.
Why do we need North Korea and why is our president going there? There are, of course, military-strategic tasks and military-technical ones, which the Koreans have accumulated in general. And now we can buy all that.
The Koreans will gladly sell it to us, they need currency. And they will want our technology. By the way, the nuclear bomb and their missiles were largely created by Ukrainian scientists and specialists. They have invested a lot in this matter. But we haven’t heard of Russian specialists being there or taking part in any way. But now we are in such a pre-war stage before a global war that we don’t have much choice.
Now there has been a suggestion that if Germany sends its long-range missiles to Ukraine and the United States adds a few more types of missile equipment, then it will not be a problem for us to supply high-performance missile weapons to the same Houthis.
– Well, theoretically yes.
– Or to ship to North Korea, as an answer. But in general it is, you see, balancing on the brink of the third world war.
We have repeatedly said that World War III could start on the Korean Peninsula. And this is no longer Kim Jong Un’s game. He understands this very well. It is a game between the US and Japan, where US bases are located, and South Korea. This is a new outbreak, not the Taiwan outbreak.
I don’t know what our propaganda is doing, but it always comes up with some version about China and Taiwan. 180 km of sea space – what Taiwan, what landings!.. The Koreans – yes, they can rush to fight. The visit of our president will not go down well with the West. But, I repeat, we have no choice.
Trade and economic relations
– I wanted to ask too. In 2017, Russia actually supported UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea by abstaining from the vote. China also abstained. Why did we take such a position and not veto it? Ultimately, these sanctions hit the DPRK very hard.
— First, at that moment both Beijing and Moscow had very difficult relations with Pyongyang.
— I mean, seven years ago?
– Yes, of course, we were offended. That you don’t take us into account. That the tests the Koreans conducted were practically at the gates of Vladivostok, our largest metropolis in the Far East. And they didn’t even discuss it with us. They did underground nuclear tests and didn’t even inform us, you know? And this is a real threat. That’s why we responded in this way.
But overall, North Korea survives. And she very clearly sees where and on what front some cracks are appearing in this isolated country, some options for getting out of this isolation.
Now we have gathered a group of tourists from the Khabarovsk Krai who will go to the North Korean resorts to relax and ski in the mountains. And that’s great.
– Well, our tourist flow was quite serious even before the pandemic. And many people, our citizens, traveled to the DPRK, and Koreans worked en masse in Russia. On average, they reached 70 thousand people. Perhaps this area of cooperation should also be revived? We have some problems with Central Asian migrants and we need workers.
– I think it is undesirable. The North Koreans have been cutting down our forests for decades. I know how they treat Russian nature in Siberia and the Far East. I’m from the far east and I’m against such things. This is ruin for us. This is not support or help.
„For our part, it’s our job to set the rules.”
– You know, it’s hard with them. These are very difficult negotiators. They are also not good at delivering what they promise.
Oddly enough, a certain nation has even formed before our eyes. Please note that Kim Jong-un even requested that some symbols of a unified Korea be removed. Although we still have living veterans who remember the Korean War. That is, two nations were formed. And even the language is a little different.
– Yes really. How Vladimir Putin’s visit to Pyongyang will end is of interest to everyone and excites both Russia and the West. I hope we will still get as much information as possible from the results of this trip. Thank you very much!
Translation: ES
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