The Sickle and Hammer Banquet at the Kremlin
The Sickle and Hammer Banquet at the Kremlin: According to Iran Gate, the collaboration between Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin began at the Vostochny Cosmodrome on Wednesday, September 13, in Russia’s Far East. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged full and unconditional support to Russian President Vladimir Putin for Russia’s sacred struggle to defend its interests, stating that Pyongyang will always stand with Moscow on the anti-imperialist front.
Kim made these statements on the sidelines of a bilateral meeting at the Vostochny Space Center in the Amur region in Russia’s Far East. In a video released by the Russian news agency RIA, the two leaders greeted each other warmly and shook hands.
In response to a question about whether he and Kim would discuss arms arrangements, Putin replied that they would discuss all issues. Shortly before the meeting, Pyongyang launched two short-range ballistic missiles from the Sunan area, which observers see as a display of power to demonstrate its military readiness and capability.
And if all this suggests that the Vostochny partnership lays the foundations for a new anti-Western axis, the United States has already warned both countries that any potential agreement on the exchange of weapons and military technology would violate UN resolutions, which would have unpleasant consequences for both.
Technology in Exchange for Weapons
At the end of this face-to-face meeting, which lasted two and a half hours, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov responded to media speculation about a potential exchange of weapons for technology by stating that the West has violated many commitments and agreements by sending Soviet-era weapons to Ukraine.
Kim has not openly discussed a potential arms deal but has promised support for Russia’s just struggle, statements that have been interpreted as a reference to the war in Ukraine. Russia is currently engaged in a just struggle against hegemonic forces to defend its sovereignty, security, and interests. I take this opportunity to declare that we will always stand with Russia on the anti-imperialist front and the front of independence.
On this trip, senior North Korean military officials, including those responsible for weapon production and space technology, as well as Marshal Pak Jong Chon of the Korean People’s Army and Jo Chun Ryong, director of the munitions industry department, accompanied Kim. These details, in the absence of public announcements and press conferences, indicate that the focus of this meeting was potential military cooperation between the two countries.
Mutual Assistance
Moscow represents one of the few partners of North Korea’s communist regime, a highly isolated country nicknamed the rogue state, which, like Russia, is under severe international sanctions. After the attack on Ukraine in February 2022 and with Moscow’s weakened position, it was natural for Pyongyang and Moscow to seek support from one another. However, from this cooperation and closeness, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un each pursue different desires and goals.
The Russian president, who needs extensive military resources in the conflict with Ukraine, is seeking weapons that North Korea, equipped with a massive defense industry with large-scale production capabilities, can provide. But if the Russia-North Korea agreement comes to fruition, its consequences will extend far beyond the conflict in Ukraine.
In fact, the North Korean dictator is seeking technology, especially submarines and satellites, to advance his nuclear program. The meeting at the remote Siberian facilities, from where Russian Soyuz-2 rockets are launched, indicates Kim’s interest in seeking Moscow’s help in building military reconnaissance satellites, which are crucial for Pyongyang’s ambitions.
And as the latest request from Pyongyang, which is not insignificant, the North Korean leader is hopeful for humanitarian aid to help alleviate the very serious agricultural crisis in his country, a crisis exacerbated by the country’s border closures and increased isolation from the outside world due to the COVID pandemic.
Beijing, the Balancing Needle
It must be acknowledged that the military partnership between Russia and North Korea is not only concerning for the United States but also for China, which looks with concern at the growing relations between the two neighbors. According to Bloomberg, although the Chinese government has officially commented that the North Korean leader’s visit to Russia is about the two countries and their mutual relations, Beijing officials have expressed doubts about their potential military cooperation.
Cheong Seong-chang from the Sejong Institute told AFP that unlike Russia, China does not want its relations with the United States to deteriorate, and therefore it has no desire to expand military cooperation with them. Observers note that one of Beijing’s current priorities, in addition to grappling with a serious crisis in the real estate sector and the slowdown of rapid previous growth, is to restore its relations with European powers and manage relations with the United States.
For this reason, according to Fyodor Tertitsky from the Korean Studies Institute at Kookmin University in Seoul, the key to neutralizing the Vostochny agreement lies with Beijing. Tertitsky says, ‘My advice to President Biden or Antony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State, or any other responsible official is to send your ambassador to China because if China tells Putin, ‘We are unhappy with this, this is our sphere of influence, we don’t want you to trade with them,’ Putin will likely agree because he cannot afford to anger the Chinese.’
Analysts believe that Kim Jong Un, meeting with Putin for the first time in four years, has clear and explicit demands from the Russian president. In recent months, North Korea has shown, with the unsuccessful launch of a military satellite, that it needs space technology to complete its nuclear program, and during the meeting held in Vostochny, these demands were certainly discussed, but this is certainly not the direction or path that Beijing approves or desires.
Pyongyang is a necessary ally for keeping American forces away from the northeastern borders of the People’s Republic of China, but Kim Jong Un’s repeated nuclear and missile challenges are also a source of annoyance for China, especially at this time when it is trying to improve its relations with the West. The Pyongyang-Moscow military agreement, which could lead to a new chapter of tensions on the Korean peninsula, is not a scenario that Beijing views positively.
The Sickle and Hammer Banquet at the Kremlin
English
View this article in English