The fact that Kim Jong-un is traveling to Vladivostok to meet with Putin means the arms deal is done and North Korean artillery shells should start being delivered to Russian units in Ukraine soon:
Police and military personnel are spotted at a platform of Vladivostok rail station in the far eastern Russian city on Sept. 11, 2023. (Yonhap)
Security measures appeared to have been strengthened at the rail station in Russia’s far eastern city of Vladivostok on Monday amid speculation that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could visit Russia this week for talks with President Vladimir Putin.
As of 5:40 p.m., a large number of police personnel were spotted inside Vladivostok station, unlike the previous day. A South Korean government official told Yonhap News Agency earlier in the day that a special train presumed to be carrying Kim appeared to be traveling to Vladivostok.
Soldiers with service dogs, men in black suits, as well as a black car surrounded by police officials entering the platform were also seen at the station, although it was unclear whether the vehicle was related to Kim’s possible visit.
The New York Times reported last week that Kim plans to travel to Vladivostok, possibly by armored train this month, for talks with Putin to discuss the North’s potential supply of its artillery shells and other weaponry for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
I hope the Russians bring along a tugboat to help the North Korean ships keep up:
Kim Kyou-hyun (C, back), chief of the National Intelligence Service, attends a plenary session of the intelligence committee at the National Assembly in Seoul on Sept. 4, 2023. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
Russia proposed conducting three-way naval exercises with North Korea and China when Moscow’s defense minister held a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in late July, South Korea’s intelligence agency was quoted as saying Monday.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made the proposal when he held a one-on-one meeting with the North’s leader, National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Kim Kyou-hyun said during a close-door briefing to the parliamentary intelligence committee, according to Rep. Yoo Sang-bum of the ruling People Power Party.
North Korean state media reported on Putin's gratitude for "the DPRK's unwavering support" in Ukraine invasion.
Kim Jong Un gave Shoigu a tour of advanced weapons at a military exhibition, indicating possible North Korean sales of heavy weaponry.https://t.co/Xwyav9UecK
Hopefully the Russians got a cheap price for these North Korean artillery rounds which are apparently not very reliable:
While North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has supported Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war effort, weapons produced in his country have apparently been turned against Russian forces.
The Financial Times reported Friday that Ukraine has been launching unpredictable, North Korean-made rockets at Russian troops. Ukrainian soldiers manning multiple-launch rocket systems near Bakhmut showed the weapons to the outlet.
A Ukrainian artillery commander told FT his troops don’t like using the weapons, which were made in the 1980s and ’90s, because they can often misfire or fail to explode. One soldier said, “They are very unreliable and do crazy things sometimes.”
Dictatorship 101 says to put large portraits of yourself everywhere and for Putin he even has the North Koreans putting up his picture now. This is a bit surprising because it makes North Korea look like a vassal state:
Kim Jong Un decorated his walls with huge portraits of Russian President Vladimir Putin during a tour of a state office building, state media images show.
The portraits were visible as the North Korean leader gave a personal tour to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
Shoigu was attending a banquet at the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party headquarters in Pyongyang, per the Daily Mail. It comes as the country celebrated the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, which took place from 1950 to 1953.
In the bizarre images, Kim and Shoigu can be seen walking down a corridor while huge portraits of Putin and Kim loom over them from either side.
Look who turned up in Pyongyang, the guy who just few weeks ago fled Moscow in fear of an overweight caterer turned mercenary boss:
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (R) shakes hands with North Korean Defense Minister Kang Sun-nam after arriving in Pyongyang on July 25, 2023, in this photo released by the North’s Korean Central News Agency. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu held talks with his North Korean counterpart, Kang Sun-nam, in Pyongyang on Wednesday and expressed his determination to boost bilateral ties, Russian media reported.
Shoigu arrived in the North Korean capital Tuesday for a three-day visit to attend commemorative events to mark the 70th anniversary of the 1950-53 Korean War armistice.
“I am confident that today’s talks will help strengthen cooperation between our defense ministries,” TASS quoted Shoigu as saying.
The North is set to hold commemorative events for the landmark anniversary of the signing of the armistice on July 27, 1953, which is celebrated in the country as Victory Day.
The Kremlin is threatening to send advanced weapons to North Korea if the ROK sends arms to Ukraine:
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during an interview with Reuters at the presidential office in Seoul, Tuesday. (Yonhap)
Any decision by South Korea to supply arms to Ukraine would make Seoul a participant in the conflict, the Kremlin said on Wednesday, after President Yoon Suk Yeol opened the door to such deliveries.
South Korea has denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and supplied economic and humanitarian aid to Kyiv, but unlike the United States and European allies has so far stopped short of sending weapons. (…..)
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin who frequently makes hawkish comments on Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine, suggested Moscow could respond by supplying advanced weaponry to North Korea.
“I wonder what the inhabitants of this country (South Korea) will say when they see the latest designs of Russian weapons in the hands of their closest neighbors – our partners from the DPRK?” Medvedev said in a post on Telegram, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, is seen speaking during a daily press briefing at the White House in Washington on Jan. 20, 2023 in this captured image. (Yonhap)
North Korea continues to provide ammunition to Russia in support of Moscow’s unprovoked war against Ukraine, a White House official said Friday, calling it a clear violation of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions on Pyongyang.
John Kirby, strategic communications coordinator for the National Security Council, said the U.S. has shared its intelligence on the delivery of North Korean ammunition to Russia with the UNSC Panel of Experts on North Korea sanctions.
The NSC official earlier said the North has delivered ammunition to a private Russian military company, the Wagner Group, for use in Ukraine.
You can read more at the link, but by transferring the ammunition to the Wagner Group it allows North Korea and Russia to claim that ammunition is not being transferred between the two governments when in fact it is.
