VLADIVOSTOK, RUSSIA (Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected Russian nuclear-capable strategic bombers, hypersonic missiles and warships on Saturday, along with President Vladimir Putin’s defense minister.
A smiling Kim Jong-un was greeted at Russia’s Knevichi airfield, about 50 km from the Pacific city of Vladivostok, by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
The United States and South Korea fear that closer ties between Moscow and Pyongyang could give Kim Jong-un access to sensitive Russian technology, including missiles, while helping Russia arm itself in its war in Ukraine.
Sergei Shoigu showed the North Korean leader Russian strategic bombers – the Tu-160, Tu-95 and Tu-22M3 – which are capable of carrying nuclear weapons and form the backbone of the North Korean nuclear air strike force. Russia, the Defense Ministry said.
“It can go from Moscow to Japan and back,” the minister said of one of these aircraft.
Kim Jong-un was shown asking questions about how the missiles were fired from the plane, sometimes nodding and smiling.
Sergei Shoigu also showed him the MiG-31I supersonic interceptor aircraft equipped with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles. The Kinzhal, or dagger, is an air-launched ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear or conventional warheads.
It has a range of 1,500 to 2,000 km with a payload of 480 kg and can travel at ten times the speed of sound (12,000 km/h).
After the planes and missiles, Kim Jong-un inspected the Russian Pacific Fleet warship in Vladivostok, where he was to watch a Russian navy demonstration.
South Korea and the United States said Friday that military cooperation between North Korea and Russia violates U.N. sanctions against Pyongyang and that the allies will ensure there is a price to pay.
Russia has spared no effort to publicize Kim Jong-un’s visit and has repeatedly hinted at the prospect of military cooperation with North Korea, which was established in 1948 with the support of the Soviet Union.
For Vladimir Putin, who says Moscow is engaged in an existential battle with the West over Ukraine, courting Kim Jong-un allows him to trap Washington and its Asian allies while potentially securing a large supply of artillery for the war in Ukraine.
Washington has accused North Korea of supplying weapons to Russia, which has the world’s largest stockpile of nuclear warheads, but it is unclear whether any deliveries have taken place.
(Reporting by Reuters; written by Guy Faulconbridge, French version Benjamin Mallet)
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