Putin is visiting the North Korean capital for the first time in 24 years, a trip that could upend decades of relations between Russia and North Korea.
 "Putin and Kim Jong Un embrace in North Korea, pledge to develop ties")
Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shake hands during their meeting at the Vostochny Cosmodrome (Photo: AP/PTI) Reuters
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un embraced Russian President Vladimir Putin upon arriving at Pyongyang airport on Wednesday, with the two leaders sharing their “innermost thoughts” and agreeing to develop bilateral ties, North Korean state media reported.
Putin, who arrived before dawn, is visiting the North Korean capital for the first time in 24 years, a trip that could upend decades of ties between Russia and North Korea as both countries face international isolation.
Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp
North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency said the cooperation between the two countries is a “driving force for accelerating the building of a new multipolar world” and that Putin's visit demonstrates the invincibility and endurance of the friendship and unity between the two countries.
Russia is using its growing friendship with North Korea to rile up the United States, while Pyongyang, under severe sanctions, gets political support and promises of economic aid and trade from Moscow.
The United States and its allies fear Russia could aid North Korea's missile and nuclear programs, banned by U.N. Security Council resolutions, and have accused North Korea of ​​providing ballistic missiles and artillery shells that Russia used in the Ukraine war.
Moscow and Pyongyang deny any arms transfers.
Kim Jong Un welcomed Putin with a handshake, hug and conversation next to the Russian leader's plane before the two men boarded Putin's Russian-made Aurus limousine for the ride to the Nishikigoiyama State Guest House.
Perhaps given the time period, the welcome was relatively low-key, with none of the grand ceremonies that North Korea held during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit in 2019, and Kim simply receiving the Russian leader on a red carpet.
“Walking through the charmingly illuminated streets of Pyongyang at night, the supreme leaders exchanged their innermost thoughts and opened their hearts to further develop North Korea-Russia relations,” the Korean Central News Agency reported, using the initials of North Korea's official name.
State media photos showed portraits of Putin lining the streets of Pyongyang and a giant “Welcome Putin” message brightly lit on the facade of the unfinished, vacant, 101-storey pyramid-shaped Ryugyong Hotel.
Wednesday's agenda will include one-on-one meetings between the two leaders, as well as a gala concert, a state reception, a salute to honors, document signings and media statements, Russia's Interfax news agency reported, citing Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign policy adviser.
Before his arrival in North Korea, Putin praised North Korea for resisting U.S. economic pressure, threats and intimidation, in a signal that Russia, which holds veto power on the U.N. Security Council, is reviewing its approach to North Korea.
In a front-page article in North Korea's main ruling party newspaper, Kim Jong Un promised to “develop an alternative trade and mutual payment mechanism not dominated by the West” and to “establish an equal and indivisible security regime in Eurasia.”
Putin's article suggests there are opportunities for North Korea's economic growth within an anti-Western economic bloc led by Russia, which is likely to send an appealing message to Kim Jong Un, wrote Rachel Minyoung Lee, an analyst at the 38 North Program in Washington.
“If North Korea sees Russia as a long-term partner for its economic development, which may seem irrational to some, it will have even less incentive to try to improve relations with the United States,” she said in the report.
Putin also issued a decree on the eve of the visit saying he was seeking to conclude a “comprehensive strategic partnership treaty” with North Korea, which Ushakov said would also include security issues.
Ushakov said the agreement was not targeted at other countries and “pointed out prospects for further cooperation.”
