North Korea rolls out the red carpet for nuclear ally Russia as Putin’s war chief visits Pyongyang – amid fears Putin is seeking new weapons for ‘long war’ in Ukraine
- Putin’s defence minister embarked on a three-day visit to the repressive state
- Chinese officials have joined the Russian defence minister in capital Pyongyang
North Korea has rolled out the red carpet for Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu this week amid suspicions his visit to Pyongyang will see him secure new weapons and ammunition for a ‘long war’ in Ukraine.
Putin’s right-hand man has taken time off commanding the war for a three-day visit to the repressive state, where he will participate in celebrations commemorating the 70th anniversary of the signing of the 1953 Korean War armistice – North Korea’s ‘Victory Day’.
Shoigu, dressed in a general’s uniform, stepped off his governmental plane to be greeted by the Russian national anthem and hundreds of uniformed soldiers holding placards welcoming him to Pyongyang earlier this week.
A high-level Chinese delegation, led by Politburo member Li Hongzhong, was also welcomed.
During their time in North Korea, the Russian and Chinese officials will witness a huge military parade showcasing North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un’s latest arsenal of nuclear weapons.
But it is thought the key purpose of Shoigu’s visit may be to boost the supply of artillery shells for his forces in Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
This picture taken on July 25, 2023 and released by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on July 26 shows Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu (C) arriving at Pyongyang International Airport
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, right, is welcomed by North Korean Defence Minister Kang Sun Nam at the Pyongyang International Airport in Pyongyang, North Korea Tuesday, July 25, 2023
The guard of honour of the Korean People’s Army stand under a banner with the inscription ‘Welcome, Comrade Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu (2-L) attends a ceremony of the official meeting of the Russian delegation with the participation of the guard of honour of the Korean People’s Army
Analysts say the spectacle of military might presented by the hermit kingdom’s Kim Jong-un will include the North’s nuclear-tipped missiles banned by the United Nations Security Council, where Russia and China are permanent members.
The visits are the first known foreign delegations to visit North Korea since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and come as Pyongyang has looked to deepen its ties with Beijing and Moscow, finding common ground in their rivalries with Washington and the West.
Images from Russia’s defence ministry and North Korean media showed Shoigu being warmly greeted by North Korean defence minister Kang Sun Nam and Russian ambassador Alexander Matsegora at the airport.
The United States has accused North Korea of providing weapons to Russia during the war in Ukraine, including an arms delivery of infantry rockets and missiles to the Kremlin-backed Wagner mercenary group in November 2022.
Pyongyang and Moscow have denied those claims, but Kim has vowed to bolster strategic cooperation between the nations, and The Moscow Times reported that Moscow is using North Korean weapons to shore up deficits in Ukraine in exchange for help with Kim’s nuclear programme.
Park Won-gon, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said the fact that Russia’s defence minister flew to Pyongyang while his country was at war is ‘very significant’.
The visit comes as Putin is reportedly preparing for a ‘long war’.
The Russian president acted this week to massively swell the numbers of young men he can conscript, extending the compulsory draft age by three years and cracking down on exemptions and the ability to evade military service.
A close ally Col-Gen Andrey Kartapolov, a Russian MP and loyalist parliamentary defence committee chairman, told the legislature: ‘This law was written for a big war, for general mobilisation.’
This picture taken on July 25, 2023 and released by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on July 26 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) visiting the Fatherland Liberation War Martyrs Cemetery on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the victory in the great Fatherland Liberation War
This picture taken on July 25, 2023 and released by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on July 26 shows war veterans and citizens laying wreaths at the Patriotic Martyrs Cemetery in Sinmi-ri, Pyongyang on the 70th anniversary of the victory in the Fatherland Liberation War
FILE – This photo provided by the North Korean government, shows what it says is Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missiles during a military parade to mark the 75th founding anniversary of the Korean People’s Army on Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea on Feb. 8, 2023
Meanwhile, Kim Jong-un’s military parade in Pyongyang is likely to include as many as 15,000 personnel and possibly feature new designs of nuclear-capable weapons, said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.
Commercial satellite imagery over recent weeks showed participants practising, including in downtown Kim Il Sung Square where the event will take place, with large formations showing the number ’70’ and other slogans, said Dave Schmerler, a researcher at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS).
At a training ground outside Pyongyang, military units appeared to be practising marching around the square track with vehicles behind them, Schmerler added, citing imagery provided to Reuters by U.S.-based firm Umbra, which used radar imaging satellites to peer through cloud cover.
Kim kicked off his commemorations this week with visits to a cemetery for Chinese soldiers who fought in the war, known as the Fatherland Liberation War, state media KCNA reported on Wednesday. The only defence treaty China and North Korea have is with each other.
Kim also visited the Fatherland Liberation War Martyrs Cemetery on Monday, KCNA reported, as he praised the soldiers for ‘inflicting defeat’ on U.S. imperialism.
Amid international sanctions over North Korea’s missile and nuclear programmes – which both Moscow and Beijing voted to impose – China has become by far North Korea’s largest trading partner.
China’s exports to its secretive neighbour in June were eight times higher than a year before, and Russia and China have rebuffed recent attempts by the United States and some European countries to impose new sanctions on North Korea.
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