Kim Jong Un has exhibited North Korea’s banned ballisitc missiles to Russia’s defence minister as the two countries pledged to boost ties, state media have reported.
The Russian minister, Sergei Shoigu, arrived in North Korea this week along with Chinese delegates for the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, celebrated in North Korea as Victory Day.
The missiles have been banned under UN Security Council resolutions adopted with Russian and Chinese support, but were put on display for a show of solidarity between the three countries.
Mr Shoigu is making the first visit by a Russian defence minister to North Korea since the fall of the Soviet Union.
The arrival of the Russian and Chinese delegations in North Korea marks its first major opening up to the world since the coronavirus pandemic.
Mr Shoigu gave Kim a letter from Russian President Vladimir Putin, North Korean media reported.
“(Kim) expressed his views on the issues of mutual concern in the struggle to safeguard the sovereignty, development and interests of the two countries from the high-handed and arbitrary practices of the imperialists and to realize international justice and peace,” North Korean media said.
“He repeatedly expressed a belief that the Russian army and people would achieve big successes in the struggle for building a powerful country,” it said.
KCNA did not refer to the war in Ukraine but North Korea’s defence minister, Kang Sun Nam, was reported as saying North Korea fully supported Russia’s “battle for justice” and to protect its sovereignty.
Mr Kim led Mr Shoigu on a tour of an exhibition of new weapons and military equipment, KCNA said.
State media photographs showed Mr Kim and his guests at a display of some of the North’s ballistic missiles in multi-axle transporter launchers. Another image showed what analysts said appeared to be a new drone.
Mr Kim also met Chinese Communist Party Politburo member Li Hongzhong for talks and was handed a letter from Chinese President Xi Jinping, North Korean media reported.
The visit by Li’s delegation showed Xi’s commitment to “attach great importance to the DPRK-China friendship,” Mr Kim was quoted as saying by the North’s KCNA state news agency, referring to the North the initial of its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The Russian visit raises the prospect of more open support for North Korea, especially with Russia isolated by the West over is invasion of Ukraine, analysts said.
“While Russia has kept its official military cooperation with the North Korea limited, any veritable rupture in the so-called post-Cold War order may see Russia more willing to openly violate sanctions, especially given their relatively lax attitude to the shifts in North Korea’s nuclear status last year,” Anthony Rinna, a specialist in Korea-Russia relations at the Sino-NK think tank, told Reuters.
Last year, North Korea rolled out a new, expansive nuclear law declaring its status as a nuclear-armed state “irreversible”.
This month, it threatened nuclear retaliation over a show of force by the United States, saying the deployment of strategic military assets near the Korean peninsula could meet criteria for its use of nuclear weapons.
