Kim shows off North's arsenal to Russian defense chief

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un showcased his regime's latest missiles and drones to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who is visiting Pyongyang to attend commemorations of the armistice that concluded the 1950-53 Korean War.

In this photo published by the Workers' Party-controlled newspaper Rodong Sinmun, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, right, guides a Russian military delegation led by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu through an exhibition of the North's latest weapons on Wednesday. A camouflage-painted Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile can be seen in the far background. [NEWS1]

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un showcased his regime's latest missiles and drones to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who is visiting Pyongyang to attend commemorations of the armistice that concluded the 1950-53 Korean War, according to the North's state media Thursday.

Photos released by the North’s state-controlled Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) showed Kim accompanying Shoigu and a Russian military delegation at the Weaponry Exhibition-2023 in Pyongyang the previous day.

At the exhibition, a camouflage-painted Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile and a Hwasong-12 hypersonic glide vehicle-mounted ballistic missile were displayed in plain sight, along with reconnaissance and combat variants of a new unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) resembling the U.S. surveillance aircraft Global Hawk.

Under multiple resolutions passed by the United Nations Security Council, where Russia is a permanent veto-wielding member, the North is formally prohibited from using ballistic missile technology.

State media on Thursday also released aerial footage of the two new UAV models in flight, including a clip of the combat drone firing missiles.

In this photo released by Pyongyang's state-controlled Korean Central News Agency, North Korean leader walks alongside Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu at the Weaponry Exhibition-2023 in Pyongyang on Wednesday. A Hwasong-12 hypersonic guide vehicle is on the left side of the red carpet, while a new drone can be seen on the right. [YONHAP]

According to the KCNA, Kim guided Shoigu through the display of weapons produced by the North and shared his views on the “worldwide trend of weaponry development and its strategy” and “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.”

Kim and Shoigu held a meeting the same day, where they exchanged views on current defense issues in a “cordial atmosphere overflowing with militant friendship” and reached a “consensus” on the topics discussed, which the KCNA did not disclose.

Shoigu also delivered a letter to Kim from Russian President Vladimir Putin and was quoted by Pyongyang’s state radio broadcaster as saying that North Korea’s military “has become the most powerful army in the world” under Kim’s leadership at a banquet later hosted by Pyongyang’s defense ministry.

The Russian defense minister held a separate meeting with his North Korean counterpart, Kang Sun-nam, on Wednesday and expressed his belief afterward that the talks “will help strengthen cooperation between our defense agencies,” according to the Russian news agency TASS.

The United States has accused North Korea of supplying arms including millions of artillery shells to Russia in support of the latter’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, which the North has denied.

Arms stockpiled by Pyongyang that would fit Moscow’s needs include weapons based on Soviet designs, such as 122-millimeter shells and multiple rocket launcher rounds that would be compatible with Russian systems.

Such munitions would go a long way to support Russia’s current intensive use of artillery and missiles, which the North also does not lack.

Kim’s meeting with Shoigu has heightened speculation that the North is deepening its defense ties with Russia, but questions remain about what Pyongyang will get in return for helping Moscow.

In March, U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Russia sent a delegation to the North offering food in exchange for munitions.

Data posted to the United Nations Security Council website in June also showed that Russia exported a total of 67,300 barrels of refined oil to the North from December to April, after a suspension of petroleum shipments that lasted 28 months.

In addition to the defense ministry’s banquet for the Russian delegation led by Shoigu, the North’s ruling party held a separate banquet on Wednesday for a Chinese Communist Party and government delegation led by Politburo member Li Hongzhong.

Kim Sung-nam, director of the Workers’ Party’s international department, said the North “will never forget the heroic service and achievements” of soldiers in China’s People’s Volunteer Army who fought alongside the North during the war, according to the state radio broadcaster.

Li responded that Beijing is “willing” to encourage the stable development of China-North Korea relations and contribute to peace in the region, the state radio service said.

Li also met separately with Kim Jong-un on Wednesday and gave the North Korean leader a letter from Chinese President Xi Jinping, the KCNA said.

Kim was quoted by the KCNA as saying that the Chinese delegation’s visit reflects Xi’s “attachment of great importance” to the two countries’ “friendship" and pledged to bolster ties with the “fraternal Chinese people.”

Seated from right: Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Chinese Communist Party Politburo member Li Hongzhong watch a performance celebrating the end of the 1950-53 Korean War in Pyongyang that began at midnight Thursday. [YONHAP]

At midnight, the North Korean leader attended a performance celebrating the end of the war with the Chinese and Russian delegations.

The North observes the signing of the armistice on July 27, 1953, as a national holiday, which it calls the “Day of Victory in the Great Fatherland Liberation War.”

In its official narrative of the war, the North claims that the Korean War began with a U.S. invasion of its territory that it repelled.

But Soviet archives declassified in 1991 show that North Korea’s founder Kim Il Sung received approval and support to invade South Korea from Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in April 1950 as well as from Chinese leader Mao Zedong in May, about a month before he ordered the North’s military to launch a surprise attack across the 38th parallel.

China intervened in the Korean War in October 1950, after U.S.-led United Nations forces turned the tide of the conflict and began pushing into North Korean territory.

In China, where the war is officially known as the “War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea,” the eventual stalemate between the People’s Volunteer Army and the U.S.-led United Nations force is seen as a proud turning point in the country’s so-called “century of humiliation” at the hands of foreign powers.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]