Russia and N. Korea make bold announcement to ignore UN sanctions

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a summit at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Amur Oblast, Russia on Wednesday and agreed on comprehensive cooperation. The Russian president expressed his willingness to support North Korea’s development of reconnaissance satellites and said that’s why they came here. The North Korean leader also said that the North would always stay with Russia on the front of anti-imperialism. It was made clear that the two would discuss military transactions of exchanging North Korea’s conventional weapons for Russia’s military technologies as a key agenda. During the summit, the two discussed not only easing sanctions against North Korea but also the export of food and energy and the dispatch of North Korean labor.

The summit practically produced a public announcement that North Korea and Russia would unite for the war to invade Ukraine and violate the U.N. sanctions against the North. Arms trade with North Korea, as well as technology transfer or provision of labor, all violate the sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council. Russia is one of the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council that voted for the sanctions. The council’s permanent member position is a special status given to five winners of World War II to maintain world peace. Yet, Russia doesn’t seem to consider such responsibilities at all. "What's important to us is our national interests, not the U.S.'s warning," said the Kremlin.

Kim Jong Un’s schedule during his visit to Russia reveals a provocative message. The summit was held at a cutting-edge space station newly built by Russia, and the North Korean leader will visit Sukhoi’s combat plane manufacturing center. It seems like a public announcement that Russia will provide technologies for reconnaissance satellites, which North Korea failed twice to launch, and enhance North Korea’s air power in exchange for conventional weapons, such as shells and rockets, from the North. North Korea also launched two short-range ballistic missiles from Pyongyang to the East Sea one hour before the beginning of the summit as an armed demonstration to show off its military posture during the absence of its leader and disregard the international community’s warnings.

Both Kim Jong Un and Putin are dictators who prefer secretive dealings from their opaque positions of power. The two met and did not even try to hide their intention for arms trade. “We are cooperating in sensitive areas that should not be revealed or disclosed,” said the Kremlin. It doesn’t seem like sanctions or pressure would work for the two countries armed with nuclear weapons. However, the Western countries should strengthen their unity to keep a tight rein to prevent other countries from joining the two. Their honeymoon period, which was established for immediate interests and by temporary trade, won’t last long.