2023-09-17 20:23:00
(CNN) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un received bulletproof vests and drones as farewell gifts at the conclusion of a trip to Russia that raised alarm in the West.
The farewell was the culmination of a six-day visit in which he held talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, and in which the possibility of North Korea providing weapons to Russia to help it in its invasion of Ukraine was raised.
Kim travels little abroad and was received with great attention, dedicating much of the trip to visiting military installations. North Korea is heavily sanctioned and needs everything from energy and food to military technology.
Upon his departure, the governor of the Russian region of Primorye, in the far east of the country, gave him a bulletproof vest and a set of drones, reported the Russian state media TASS.
“It is a bulletproof vest with protection zones for the chest, shoulders, throat and groin, and is much lighter than its known analogues,” added the state news agency.
Kim was also presented with five kamikaze drones produced in the same region, as well as a Geranium-25 aircraft-type reconnaissance drone, TASS added. A special set of clothing that is invisible to thermal imaging cameras was an additional gift.
Kim Jong Un spoke this Saturday regarding military cooperation with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. (Credit: Russian Defense Ministry/Handout/Archyde.com)
Following a farewell ceremony that included a red carpet and honor guards, Kim was seen boarding his personal armored train, which departed from the Artyom railway station as Russian officials waved, in a video published by the state news agency. Russian RIA Novosti.
The train is expected to travel more than 200 kilometers (124 miles) from Artyom to the border town of Khasan, according to RIA.
A trip with a military focus
Kim and Putin met this Wednesday in the Russian Far East and held a five-hour meeting at the Vostochny Cosmodrom spaceport, in which Putin said Kim showed “great interest” since North Korea has made space technology a priority.
Kim offered his support to Putin following their talks, saying: “I will always stand by Russia.” Putin described his talks as “very substantial.”
In the background of the meeting was the US government’s warning earlier this month that arms negotiations were “actively advancing” between the two countries. No deal has been publicly announced.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, described his Wednesday meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as “very substantive.” (Credit: Vladimir Smirnov/Sputnik/AP)
The leader of North Korea visited an aircraft manufacturing plant in the city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, in eastern Russia, on Friday. (Credit: KCNA/Archyde.com)
North Korea’s state news agency KCNA reported that Kim was “deeply impressed” by the Russian aircraft industry following visiting the Yuri Gagarin aviation plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur on Friday. Kim visited several facilities, including a fighter aircraft fuselage assembly workshop and a wing production workshop.
On Saturday, he inspected fighter jets, toured an airfield with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, and visited a Pacific Fleet frigate, accompanied by the commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy.
Kim and Shoigu discussed military cooperation “between the armed forces of both countries and in the fields of their national defense and security,” according to KCNA.
South Korea, Japan, Ukraine, the United States and European countries were alarmed by the visit, but what will come of it is not yet fully revealed.
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