North Korean leader Kim Jong-un yesterday inspected Russian nuclear-capable strategic bombers, hypersonic missiles and warships, accompanied by Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu.
A smiling Kim was greeted at Russia’s Knevichi airfield, about 50km from the Pacific city of Vladivostok, by Shoigu, who saluted Kim. The North Korean leader then inspected a guard of honor.
The US and South Korea fear that the revival of Moscow’s friendship with Pyongyang could give Kim access to some of Russia’s sensitive missile and other technology in exchange for helping arm Russia for its war in Ukraine.
Photo: AFP / Russian Defence Ministry
Shoigu showed Kim Russia’s strategic bombers — the Tu-160, Tu-95 and Tu-22M3 — which are capable of carrying nuclear weapons and form the backbone of Russia’s nuclear air attack force, the Russian Ministry of Defense said.
“It can fly from Moscow to Japan and then back again,” Shoigu told Kim of one aircraft.
Kim was shown asking about how the missiles were fired from the aircraft, at times nodding and smiling.
Shoigu showed him the MiG-31I supersonic interceptor aircraft equipped with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles. The Kinzhal, or dagger, is an air-launched ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear or conventional warheads. It has a reported range of 1,500km to 2,000km while carrying a payload of 480kg and can travel at up to 10 times the speed of sound, or 12,000kph.
After the aircraft and missiles, Kim inspected a warship from Russia’s Pacific fleet in Vladivostok, where he was due to watch a demonstration by the Russian navy.
South Korea and the US on Friday said military cooperation between North Korea and Russia would contravene UN sanctions against Pyongyang, and that they would ensure a price was paid.
Russia has gone out of its way to publicize Kim’s visit and drop repeated hints about the prospect of military cooperation with North Korea, which was formed in 1948 with the backing of the Soviet Union.
For Russian President Vladimir Putin, who says Moscow is locked in an existential battle with the West over Ukraine, courting Kim enables him to needle Washington and its Asian allies while potentially securing a deep supply of artillery for the war in Ukraine.
Washington has accused North Korea of providing arms to Russia, which has the world’s biggest store of nuclear warheads, but it is unclear whether any deliveries have been made.
PALAU LAUNCHES: The source said that Taiwanese military personnel traveled to Palau, where a US brigade watched their work amid plans for a defense network The military last month participated in live-fire launches of MM-104F Patriot (PAC-3) missiles under US observation in an undisclosed location in Palau, a step forward in a US-led plan to create a joint defense missile system in the first island chain, a source said on condition of anonymity. The PAC-3 is the mainstay surface-to-air missile of the US, NATO and democratic nations in East Asia, the source said, adding that it has never been live-tested within Taiwan’s borders, the source said. The proximity of Taiwan to China and China’s close surveillance of the nation’s borders and nearby sea zones is a significant
IN MOURNING: Tsai visited the site and spoke with family members of those killed, while all the major presidential candidates said they would temporarily halt campaigning A fire and subsequent explosions at a golf ball factory at Pingtung Technology Industrial Park (屏東科技產業園區) killed at least seven people, including four firefighters, and injured 98, while three were still missing, authorities said yesterday. The blaze at Launch Technologies Co’s (明揚國際) plant on Jingjian Road raged for more than 12 hours after it started at about 5pm on Friday, officials said. The Pingtung County Fire Bureau early yesterday used large excavators to search for missing people, while family members waited at the scene. Pingtung County Fire Bureau Director Hsu Mei-hsueh (許美雪) said the bureau received a call about the fire at 5:31pm
DETERRENCE: The president on Thursday is to launch the first indigenous submarine, which is to enter sea trials next month before being delivered to the navy next year Taiwan hopes to deploy at least two new, domestically developed submarines by 2027, and possibly equip later models with missiles to bolster its deterrence against the Chinese navy and protect key supply lines, the head of the program said. Taiwan has made the Indigenous Submarine Program a key part of an ambitious project to modernize its armed forces as Beijing stages almost daily military exercises. President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who initiated the program when she took office in 2016, is expected to launch the first of eight new submarines on Thursday under a plan that has drawn on expertise and technology from
FISHING FUROR: The latest spat was sparked by a floating barrier that was found across the entrance of Scarborough Shoal during a resupply mission to fishers Beijing yesterday warned Manila not to “stir up trouble” after the Philippine Coast Guard said it removed a floating barrier at a disputed reef that was allegedly deployed by China to block Filipino fishers from the area. Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in the South China Sea has long been a source of tension between the nations. China seized the ring of reefs from the Philippines in 2012 and has since deployed patrol boats. The latest spat was sparked by a 300m floating barrier that was found across the entrance of the shoal last week during a routine Philippine government resupply mission
RSS