The world is largely relying on North Korean and Russian media for information about the unusual train journey of leader Kim Jong Un to meet with President Vladimir Putin at a space facility. While news gathering is, to varying degrees, constrained by both authoritarian governments, the coverage by the countries' respective media this week is providing a window into the neighbours' unique news environments and how the summit is being presented to people in North Korea and Russia. The coverage shown to North Koreans is meant, like all media efforts there, to reflect the government's propaganda needs. The country's reporters have no higher aim than glorifying Kim for Koreans and the world. But Kim's trip to Russia, where foreign and local media have more access and leeway than in Pyongyang, has challenged how the North Korean media portray one of Kim's most important diplomatic moves in years. There are no independent television channels left in Russia since Putin invaded Ukraine, an
North Korea may have tens of millions of aging artillery shells and rockets based on Soviet designs that could give a huge boost to the Russian army in Ukraine
Putin showed Kim around Russia's most advanced space rocket launch site in Russia's Far East and discussed the possibility of sending a North Korean cosmonaut into space
Ending a global guessing game on when and where they would meet, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin convened at a rocket launch facility in Siberia on Wednesday in their first summit in four years. The talks between the two isolated, nuclear-armed leaders were expected to focus on expanding military cooperation amid their intensifying confrontations with the West. The decision to meet at Vostochny Cosmodrome, a major satellite launch facility, may communicate what Kim sees as the crucial next steps in his efforts to build a viable nuclear arsenal that could threaten the United States and its allies in Asia. Dangling North Korea's vast stockpiles of munitions Putin likely covets for his war in Ukraine, Kim in exchange could ask for badly needed economic aid and sophisticated weapons technologies to advance his military nuclear programme, experts say. Kim could push for Russian technology transfers on military reconnaissance satellites, a key asset o
One-on-one talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have ended, Russia's state news agency Tass reported Wednesday. The meeting of the two leaders at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in eastern Siberia followed wider talks between delegations headed by the two leaders. Before the talks, the two leaders toured some of the facilities of the strategic spaceport. In remarks before the private meeting, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un offered Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday his country's full and unconditional support for Russia's sacred fight to defend its security interests, in an apparent reference to the war in Ukraine, and said Pyongyang will always stand with Moscow on the anti-imperialist front.
Kim arrived at Vostochny by train, after crossing into Russia early on Tuesday
The leaders of Russia and North Korea met at a remote Siberian rocket launch facility for a summit that underscores how the two leaders' interests are aligning in the face of their separate, intensifying confrontations with the United States. The two men began their meeting with a tour of a Soyuz-2 space rocket launch facility, at which North Korean leader Kim Jong Un peppered Russian President Vladimir Putin with questions about the rockets. The meeting came hours after North Korea fired two ballistic missiles toward the sea, extending a highly provocative run in North Korean weapons testing since the start of 2022, as Kim used the distraction caused by Putin's war on Ukraine to accelerate his weapons development. The leaders' decision to meet at Vostochny Cosmodrome, a major satellite launch facility, suggests that Kim is seeking Russian technical assistance in his efforts to develop military reconnaissance satellites, which he has described as crucial in enhancing the threat of h
North Korea's Kim Jong Un rolled through Russia on an armoured train on Tuesday toward a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, a rare encounter between isolated leaders driven together by their need for support in escalating standoffs with the West. Kim is expected to seek economic aid and military technology for his impoverished country, and, in a twist, appears to have something Putin desperately needs: munitions for Russia's gruelling war in Ukraine. It's a chance for the North Korean leader to get around crippling UN sanctions and years of diplomatic isolation. For Putin, it's an opportunity to refill ammunition stores that the war has drained. Any arms deal with North Korea would violate the sanctions, which Russia supported in the past. Kim's personal train stopped in Khasan, a station on the Russia-North Korea border, where it was met by a military honour guard and a brass band, according to video posted on social media channels. He was met on a red carpet by regional Gov.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has departed for Russia where he is expected to hold a highly anticipated meeting with President Vladimir Putin that has sparked Western concerns about a potential arms deal for Moscow's war in Ukraine. North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said on Tuesday that Kim boarded his personal train from the capital, Pyongyang, on Sunday afternoon, and that he will be accompanied by unspecified members of the country's ruling party, government and military. State media photos showed Kim walking pass honour guards and crowds of civilians holding the national flag and flowers and waving his hand from his green-and-yellow armoured train before it left the station in Pyongyang. A group of senior officials, including Cabinet Premier Kim Tok Hun, Kim Jong Un's top economic official, were at the station to give the leader a hearty send-off", KCNA said. KCNA did not specify whether the train had crossed the border. A brief statement on the Kremlin's ..
North Korea invited visiting Chinese delegates and Russian artists to a paramilitary parade featuring rocket launchers pulled by trucks and tractors, state media said Saturday, in leader Kim Jong Un's latest effort to display his ties with Moscow and Beijing in the face of deepening confrontations with Washington. The midnight parade in the capital, Pyongyang, which was to celebrate North Korea's 75th founding anniversary, came amid expectations that Kim will travel to Russia soon for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin that could focus on North Korean arm sales to refill reserves drained by the Kremlin's war on Ukraine. While China has sent a delegation led by Vice Premier Liu Guozhong to the North Korea's anniversary celebrations, Russia sent a military song and dance group. South Korean media speculated that the lack of Russian government officials at the festivities in Pyongyang could be related to preparations for a summit between Kim and Putin, which Washington expects ...
North Korea said Friday it has launched a purported nuclear attack submarine it has been developing for years, a step leader Kim Jong Un described as crucial in his efforts to build a nuclear-armed navy to counter the United States and its Asian allies. The North's official Korean Central News Agency said the vessel named "Hero Kim Kun Ok" is designed to launch tactical nuclear weapons from underwater but did not specify the number of missiles it could carry and fire. In his speeches at the vessel's launching ceremony on Wednesday and an onboard inspection on Thursday, Kim expressed satisfaction that the country has acquired its own nuclear attack submarine to counter the advanced naval assets of the US, KCNA said. In July, the US docked a nuclear-capable ballistic missile submarine in South Korea for the first time since the 1980s. Kim said the country is also pursuing a nuclear-propelled submarine and plans to remodel its existing submarines and surface vessels so that they coul
A Chinese delegation led by Vice-Premier Liu Guozhong will visit North Korea to participate in celebrations for its 75th founding anniversary, which is on Saturday, the North's state media said Thursday. The report came amid speculation that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is preparing to visit Russia soon for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin that could be focused on advancing talks for North Korean arms sales to refill Russian reserves drained by its war on Ukraine. Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency said the visit by Liu's delegation comes at the invitation of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party. It didn't specify the events the Chinese officials would be participating or whether they would be meeting Kim. A U.S. official said Monday that Washington expects Kim to make a trip to Russia within this month to meet Putin as the Kremlin tries to acquire military equipment for use in its war in Ukraine. According to some U.S. reports, the meeting could happe
A US official said Monday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may travel to Russia soon to meet with President Vladimir Putin as the Kremlin tries to acquire military equipment for use in its war in Ukraine. The official, who was not authorised to address the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. expects Kim will make the trip within the month. The official said the U.S. isn't sure exactly where or when the meeting would take place, but the Pacific port city of Vladivostok would be a likely possibility given its relative proximity to North Korea. National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson noted Monday that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu traveled to Pyongyang last month and tried to persuade North Korea to sell artillery ammunition to Russia. Watson said, We have information that Kim Jong Un expects these discussions to continue, to include leader-level diplomatic engagement in Russia. She added that the U.S.
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North Korea said Thursday its latest missile launches simulated scorched earth nuclear strikes on South Korea and that it's also been rehearsing an occupation of its rivals' territory in the event of conflict. Pyongyang has previously tested nuclear-capable missiles and described how it would use them in potential wars with South Korea and the US. But the North's disclosure of detailed war plans reaffirmed its aggressive nuclear doctrine to intimidate its opponents, as it escalates its protest of the ongoing South Korean-US military exercises that it views as a major security threat, observers say. North Korea's military said it fired two tactical ballistic missiles from the capital on Wednesday night to simulate scorched earth strikes at major command centers and operational airfields in South Korea, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. The North's military said the missiles carried out their simulated strikes through air bursts, suggesting it confirmed the ...
The White House on Wednesday said that it has new intelligence that shows Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have swapped letters as Russia looks to North Korea for munitions for the Ukraine war. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby detailed the latest finding just weeks after the White House said that it had determined that Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu during a recent visit to Pyongyang called on North Korean officials to increase the sale of munitions to Moscow for its war in Ukraine. Kirby said that Russia is looking for additional artillery shells and other basic materiel to shore up Russia's defence industrial base. The Biden administration has repeatedly made the case that the Kremlin has become reliant on North Korea, as well as Iran, for the arms it needs to fight its war against Ukraine. North Korea and Iran are largely isolated on the international stage for their nuclear programmes and human rights records.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for his military to be constantly ready for combat to thwart plots to invade his country, as he accused the US of conducting "more frantic" naval drills with its allies near North Korea, state media reported Tuesday. The US and South Korean militaries are holding joint summer exercises that North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal. The allies have insisted the drills are defensive in nature. Kim said in a speech marking the country's Navy Day that falls on Monday that the waters off the Korean Peninsula have been made unstable "with the danger of a nuclear war" because of US-led hostilities, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. He cited a recent US-South Korean-Japanese summit, the deployment of US nuclear strategic assets and the US drills with its allies. "The prevailing situation requires our navy to put all its efforts into rounding off the war readiness to maintain the constant combat alertness and get prepared to break
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On May 31, Pyongyang attempted to put into orbit what it claimed was a military spy satellite but was unsuccessful
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has observed the test-firing of strategic cruise missiles from a navy ship, state media reported Monday, as the U.S. and South Korean militaries kicked off major annual drills that the North views as an invasion rehearsal. The North's report on missile tests came three days after the leaders of the U.S., South Korea and Japan agreed to expand their security and economic ties at a summit in the United States. During an inspection visit of a navy flotilla on the eastern coast, Kim boarded a patrol boat to review its weapons and preparations for combat. He later watched its seamen conducting a drill of launching strategic cruise missiles, the official Korean Central News Agency said. KCNA didn't say when the missile launches happened, and a state media photo showed Kim watching the launch of a missile from another place, not on the patrol boat. KCNA's use of the word strategic in reference to the tested weapons implied they were developed to carry nuclea