The Supreme Leader of North Korea to attend a summit with Vladimir Putin
The Supreme Leader of North Korea – Kim Jong-un has arrived in Pacific Coast City of Vladivostok in Russia for a summit with the President of Russia – Vladimir Putin.
Kim reached Russia after travelling for 9 hours in his private green train. On reaching, he was welcomed by a band with a traditional offering of bread and salt.
The key point of summit is the Korean peninsula’s ‘nuclear problem’. Kim is also supposed to look for support from Russia after talks with the President of United States (U.S.) – Donald Trump failed during the second U.S. – North Korea Summit in Hanoi.
North Korea has blamed U.S. Secretary of State – Mike Pompeo for the failed Hanoi summit. Earlier, North Korea had demanded that Mr. Pompeo be removed from nuclear talks, accusing him of talking nonsense.
Speaking on the occasion, Kim Jong-un said, “I arrived in Russia bearing the warm feelings of our people, and as I already said, I hope this visit will be successful and useful. I hope that during the talks with respected President Putin, I will be able to discuss in a concrete manner issues relating to the settlement of the situation on the Korean peninsula, and to the development of our bilateral relations.”
Kremlin aide – Yuri Ushakov said, “In the last few months the situation around the peninsula has stabilised somewhat, thanks in large part to North Korea’s initiatives of stopping rocket testing and closing its nuclear test site.”
The North Korea – Russia Summit is also an opportunity for Pyongyang to show that its economic future does not rely solely on the US. However, they don’t have any plans of signing any agreement or making a joint announcement.
Russia would like to gain broader access to North Korea’s mineral resources, including rare metals. Pyongyang, for its part, covets Russia’s electricity supplies and investment to modernize its dilapidated Soviet-built industrial plants, railways and other infrastructure.
North Korea wants Russia to support in pressuring Washington over sanctions relief, which continues to be a major sticking issue in talks between the two sides. The U.S. has said that sanctions will only be lifted after North Korea gives up its nuclear weapons program.
The venue for the summit is a Sports Complex at the Far Eastern Federal University, which also played host in 2012 to an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
