North Korea’s Kim takes home gifts of kamikaze drones, bulletproof vest from Russian visit

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un received five explosive drones, a reconnaissance drone and a bulletproof vest as gifts from a regional governor on his visit to Russia, official TASS news agency said on Sunday.

Kim’s armoured train departed to the sound of the Russian patriotic march song Farewell of Slavianka at the end of a farewell ceremony at a railway station in Artyom, a far eastern Russian city about 200 kilometres (124 miles) from the border with North Korea, Russia’s state news agency RIA reported.

Senior officials including Russia’s Minister of Natural Resources Alexander Kozlov and Primorye regional Governor Oleg Kozhemyako were present at the ceremony, which featured a Russian military band playing both North Korean and Russian national anthems.

It was the North Korean leaders longest foreign travel since he took power in late 2011. Observers said he was expected to return to Pyongyang on Monday afternoon.

Kim’s first official visit abroad since the coronavirus pandemic has fanned Western fears that Moscow and Pyongyang will defy sanctions and strike an arms deal.

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On Saturday he met the Russian defence minister in Vladivostok, where he inspected state-of-the-art weapons including a hypersonic missile system.

TASS said the “leader of the DPRK received five kamikaze drones and a ‘Geran-25’ reconnaissance drone with vertical take-off”, using the official name of North Korea.

TASS said the governor of the Primorye region, which borders China and North Korea, also “offered Kim Jong-un a set of bulletproof protection” and “special clothing not detectable by thermal cameras”.

Kim’s extended tour of Russia’s far eastern region, which began on Tuesday, has focused extensively on military matters, as evidenced by his own officer-dominated entourage, a symbolic exchange of rifles with President Vladimir Putin and a tour of a fighter jet factory in Komsomolsk-on-Amur.

Moscow is believed to be interested in buying North Korean ammunition to continue fighting in Ukraine, while Pyongyang wants Russia’s help to develop its internationally condemned missile programme. The Kremlin has said no agreement has or will be signed.

North Korea may have tens of millions of ageing artillery shells and rockets based on Soviet designs that could bolster Russian forces in Ukraine, analysts say, even though its old artillery systems have a reputation for poor accuracy. Both sides have been reportedly firing thousands of artillery rounds a day.

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North Korean leaders’, past and present, enduring love for trains

North Korean leaders’, past and present, enduring love for trains

UN Security Council resolutions – which Russia, a permanent member, previously endorsed – ban North Korea from exporting or importing any arms. Observers say Russia’s alleged attempts to receive ammunitions and artillery shells from North Korea suggest Moscow’s desperation to refill its arsenal exhausted in the war with Ukraine.

“Military cooperation between North Korea and Russia is illegal and unjust as it contravenes UN Security Council resolutions and various other international sanctions”, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Sunday in written responses to questions.

“The international community will unite more tightly in response to such a move”.

North Korean news agency KCNA has described the atmosphere during Kim’s visit as “fervent and warm” and said a “new era of friendship, solidarity and cooperation” was opening between North Korea and Russia.