North Korea says it fully supports Russia\u2019s \u2018battle for justice\u2019 as it shows off nuclear-capable missiles to Moscow\u2019s defence chief
\n North Korean
\nRussia\u2019s defence minister accompanied North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to a defence exhibition that featured the North\u2019s banned ballistic missiles as the neighbours pledged to boost ties, North Korean state media reported on Thursday.
\nThe Russian minister, Sergey Shoigu, and a Chinese delegation led by a Communist Party Politburo member arrived in North Korea this week for the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, celebrated in North Korea as \u201cVictory Day\u201d.
\nThe nuclear-capable missiles were banned under UN Security Council resolutions adopted with Russian and Chinese support. But this week, they provided a striking backdrop for a show of solidarity by three countries united by their rivalry with the US and a revival of what some analysts see as their Cold War-era coalition.
\nShoigu\u2019s visit was the first by a Russian defence minister to North Korea since the 1991 break-up of the Soviet Union.
\nFor North Korea, the arrival of the Russian and Chinese delegations marks its first major opening up to the world since the COVID-19 pandemic.
\nShoigu gave Kim a letter from Russian President Vladimir Putin, North Korean media reported.
\n\u201c[Kim] expressed his views on the issues of mutual concern in the struggle to safeguard the sovereignty, development and interests of the two countries from the high-handed and arbitrary practices of the imperialists and to realise international justice and peace,\u201d North Korean media said.
\nKCNA did not refer to the war in Ukraine but North Korea\u2019s defence minister, Kang Sun Nam, was reported as saying Pyongyang fully supported Russia\u2019s \u201cbattle for justice\u201d and protection of its sovereignty.
\nState media photographs showed Kim and his guests at a display of some of the North\u2019s ballistic missiles in multi-axle transporter launchers. Another image showed what analysts said appeared to be a new drone.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve come a long way from when North Korea would avoid showing off its nuclear capabilities when senior foreign dignitaries from Russia and China were in town,\u201d said Ankit Panda of the U.S.-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, calling the tour \u201cremarkable\u201d.
\n\u201cThe personal tour for Shoigu \u2013 and Shoigu\u2019s willingness to be photographed with Kim in the course of this tour \u2013 is evidence that Moscow is complacent with North Korea\u2019s ongoing nuclear modernisation,\u201d he said.
\nKim also met Chinese Communist Party Politburo member Li Hongzhong for talks and was handed a letter from Chinese President Xi Jinping, North Korean media reported.
\nThe visit by Li\u2019s delegation showed Xi\u2019s commitment to the North Korea-China friendship, Kim was quoted as saying by the North\u2019s KCNA state news agency.
\nState media photographs showed Kim at a large flashy performance flanked by Shoigu and Li, with a backdrop that included a slogan used by the Chinese army during the Korean War pledging to \u201cresist US aggressors\u201d.
\nLater on Thursday, North Korea held a widely anticipated nighttime military parade in an event expected to showcase the country\u2019s latest weapons, South Korea\u2019s Yonhap news agency reported.
\nPyongyang\u2019s state media had not reported on the parade as of Thursday night.
\n\u2018No secret\u2019
\nWhite House national security spokesman John Kirby said Russia\u2019s overtures to North Korea have come as the Kremlin struggles to procure arms.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s been no secret \u2026 Mr Putin is reaching out to other countries for help and support in fighting his war in Ukraine. And that includes, we know, some outreach to [North Korea],\u201d he said.
\nNorth Korea has backed the Kremlin over the Ukraine war and has shipped weapons including infantry rockets and missiles in support of Moscow, the White House has said.
\nNorth Korea and Russia have denied conducting arms transactions.
\nThe Russian visit has raised the prospect of more open support for North Korea, especially with Russia isolated by the West over its invasion of Ukraine, analysts said.
\nOne analyst said Shoigu\u2019s inspection of the North Korean missiles suggested Russian acceptance of Pyongyang\u2019s nuclear weapons programme.
\n\u201cIt may signify that the current geopolitical circumstances are starting to erode Russia\u2019s longstanding interest in preserving the global non-proliferation regime,\u201d said Artyom Lukin, a professor at Russia\u2019s Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok.
\nThe simultaneous visits by high-ranking officials is another sign of a revival of the Russian-Chinese-North Korean coalition that originally existed in the late 1940s and 1950s, though now likely to be led from Beijing rather than Moscow, he added.
\nSouth Korea\u2019s foreign ministry noted it had been Russia\u2019s official position to oppose North Korea\u2019s nuclear programme and said it hoped the visit by Shoigu\u2019s delegation would help the North return to dialogue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
North Korea says it fully supports Russia\u2019s \u2018battle for justice\u2019 as it shows off nuclear-capable missiles to Moscow\u2019s defence chief North Korean Russia\u2019s defence minister accompanied North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to a defence exhibition that featured the North\u2019s banned ballistic missiles as the neighbours pledged to boost ties, North Korean state media reported […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":345986,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-345957","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n