Putin-Kim Summit

Putin-Kim Summit

Main Examination: General Studies Paper-2

(International Relation)

September 13, 2023

Why In News:

  • The Putin-Kim summit is in the news as it underlines the growing ties between the two leaders, who have been involved in separate confrontations with the West, especially the United States.
  • North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Russia in his armored train for a summit with President Vladimir Putin on September 12, 2023.
  • Although the location of the two leaders' meeting is not clear, Kim's train is headed to the Vostochny Cosmodrome, a Russian spaceport located in the easternmost region of the country.
  • Why are the two Presidents meeting? Is it unusual to find them? What could be the outcome of this summit? etc. this topic discusses.

Is it unusual for Kim and Putin to meet:

  • The meeting of Kim and Putin is completely unusual. This is the first time in four years and since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic that Kim has gone abroad
  • It is noteworthy that North Korea had sealed its border at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, which it recently opened by sending a large group.
  • Moreover, the reclusive leader is rarely known to go on foreign trips. His first foreign trip took place in 2018, nearly seven years after assuming power as North Korea's president.
  • One of his last visits was to the Russian port city of Vladivostok in April 2019 for his first summit with Putin.
  • But Reuters said, “That meeting was almost an afterthought amid lucrative meetings with then-US President Donald Trump and several visits with China, North Korea's only treaty ally and main economic partner.
  • Over the years, Russia-North Korea relations have seen many ups and downs. And so far, they have been far from being allies.
  • For example, in the late 2000s, Russia twice supported UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea, which at the time had a nascent nuclear weapons and missile program.
  • However, the upcoming summit appears to be an effort to boost relations between the two countries. That is why it has attracted the attention of analysts as well as western countries.

What does Russia want from North Korea:

  • According to media reports, Russia wants to buy North Korean ammunition for its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
  • The meeting comes two months after Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu traveled to North Korea's capital, Pyongyang, and asked Kim to send more ammunition to Russia, something US officials suspect.
  • They also think East Asian countries are already supplying Moscow with artillery shells, rockets and other ammunition – much of it copies of Soviet-era ammunition.
  • According to Kim Taewoo, former head of Seoul's Korea Institute for National Unification, “Russia is in urgent need of (munitions). If it is not so, then how can the Defense Minister of a powerful country at war come to a small country like North Korea?”
  • He said Shoigu was the first Russian defense minister to visit North Korea after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
  • If Russia buys arms from North Korea, it would violate UN resolutions that ban all arms trade with the isolated country.
  • It is worth noting that Moscow had recently supported these proposals. It remains to be seen how the West will react to such developments – ahead of the latest summit, the US warned Russia and North Korea against arms trade.

What does North Korea want from Russia:

  • North Korea's economy has collapsed due to border closures during the pandemic, so Kim may demand supplies of food and energy to overcome the shortage.
  • The meeting is also a step by Kim to deepen ties with Moscow and end his country's years of isolation.
  • Additionally, leaders are trying to counter pressure for South Korea-US-Japan trilateral cooperation.
  • Hong Min, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, said Kim was seeking to support his plans to build high-tech weapons systems such as powerful long-range missiles, hypersonic ballistic weapons, nuclear-powered submarines and spy satellites. They are also demanding Russian technology.
  • However, it is unclear whether Russia will actually transfer its advanced technologies related to nuclear weapons and ICBMs.
  • Russia has always been reluctant to share its most important weapons technologies, even with its major allies like China.

What could be other possible outcomes of the meeting:

  • Both countries are considering the possibility of conducting bilateral military exercises. Some reports suggest that Russia has proposed a trilateral training exercise involving China.
  • This will be North Korea's first military exercise with a foreign country since the end of the Korean War (1950-1953).
  • Analysts believe that a final decision on these ideas can be taken in this summit.

Impact of Kim-Putin summit on India:

  • According to strategic analysts, this summit will not have any significant impact on the strategic relations between India and Russia.
  • At present, India's image has emerged as an influential leader at the global level, affecting not only North Korea but also developing and developed countries around the world.
  • India's defense relations are in a better position than America, Russia, European countries, Asian countries and African countries.

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Mains Exam Question

Explain the implications of the Kim-Putin summit in the context of India-Russia relations.