North Korea, Russia tout ‘strategic fortress’ ties as Putin visits Pyongyang

Kim greeted Putin at dawn on Wednesday at Pyongyang airport, shaking hands, embracing and talking beside the Russian leader’s plane.

The pair then rode in the same limousine and walked together into Putin’s hotel.

The meeting between the two leaders shows “invincibility and durability” of friendship and unity between North Korea and Russia, according to state news agency KCNA.

North Korea- Russia relations have “emerged as a strong strategic fortress for preserving international justice, peace and security and an engine for accelerating the building of a new multipolar world,” KCNA said.

Officials in Washington and Seoul say North Korea has supplied weapons to Russia to help it fight in Ukraine.

Moscow and Pyongyang have denied arms transfers but have vowed to boost military ties, possibly including joint drills.

Putin’s trip comes after Kim travelled to Russia in September, which as satellite imagery later showed was followed by a massive growth in arms transfers.

Putin is in Pyongyang for the first time since he visited in 2000 as Russia’s president. He and Kim are scheduled to hold bilateral talks, including one-on-one, and the two sides will sign agreements, including on security and economic cooperation.

The two leaders will also make press statements, Interfax news wire reported, citing Putin’s foreign policy aide. Putin will travel to Vietnam on Wednesday evening after wrapping up talks with Kim, according to the Kremlin.

The focus on the visit will be on economic and technical cooperation as well as security, but the real deliverables will not be publicly disclosed,” said Victor Cha, the senior vice-president for Asia at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies think tank.

Putin’s visit came hours after the first