The real reason Vladimir Putin is visiting North Korea

The BBC reports that Vladimir Putin is on an official visit to Pyongyang, the first time the Russian President has set foot on the North Korean capital in over two decades.

According to the BBC, Putin and Kim Jong-Un have met several times throughout the years, more recently in September 2023, at the Vostochny cosmodrome, in Russia’s far east.

CNN highlights that this is a rare international visit for Putin since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. However, facing increasing international isolation, the Russian President can’t be picky about his remaining friends abroad.

United by their antagonism towards the West, Putin will be reaffirming Moscow’s partnership with Pyongyang during his two-day trip.

The BBC remarks that both leaders plan to sign a new strategic partnership, which includes points on security.

Meanwhile, Washington and Seoul have accused Pyongyang of supplying artillery and other military equipment in exchange for food and technology.

According to Bloomberg, data from the South Korean Ministry of Defense suggests that North Korea has shipped around five million artillery shells to Russia.

Reuters reports that the US military declared that debris of Russian-launched missiles in Ukraine show that they were made by North Korea.

After North Korea, Putin is scheduled to visit Vietnam, whose Communist government also shares close ties to Moscow since the Cold War era.

Back when Putin visited Pyongyang in the 2000, he was the young, fresh face who would guide Russia into a bright future visiting Kim Jong-Il, the late father of the current North Korean dictator.

Now, as an aging authoritarian, one can’t help but look at Putin as a nostalgic, obsessed with restoring the former glories of the Soviet Union and Imperial Russia, trying to turn the wheels of time with other regimes stuck in time.

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