Putin Welcomes Kim With Tour Of Russian Space Centre

The leaders of Russia and North Korea met at a remote Siberian rocket launch facility, kicking off a meeting that could see the leaders forge an arms deal that would defy global sanctions.

The two men began their meeting with a tour of a Soyuz-2 space rocket launch facility, at which North Korean leader Kim Jong Un asked a Russian space official with questions about the rockets.

The meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin came hours after North Korea fired two ballistic missiles toward the sea, extending a highly provocative run in North Korean weapons testing since the start of 2022, as Kim used the distraction caused by Putin’s war on Ukraine to accelerate his weapons development.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff didn’t immediately say how far the North Korean missiles flew. Japan’s Coast Guard, citing Tokyo’s Defense Ministry, said the missiles have likely already landed but still urged vessels to watch for falling objects.

AP