5-hour meeting at Vostochny Cosmodrome between Mr. Putin and Mr. Kim Jong Un

According to TASS news agency, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had a meeting that lasted more than 5 hours at the Vostochny Cosmodrome on September 13. This was their first meeting in 4 years.

The Russian president stressed that the meeting was taking place “at a special time”, as this year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which the Soviet Union was the first country to recognize. This year also marks the end of the Korean War, in which Moscow and Pyongyang fought side by side.

Leader Kim Jong Un affirmed that relations with Russia are a "top priority" for his country and expressed confidence in the victory of the Russian army and people in their "sacred war".

Road to the summit

Reports of Kim Jong Un's possible visit to Russia, his first foreign trip since the pandemic began, were first reported by Western media in early September. On September 11, Moscow and Pyongyang confirmed that the North Korean leader would visit Russia, but did not specify the date.

On September 12, Kim Jong Un arrived in Russia on a super-armored train in the Russian Far East region of Primorye. Russian Natural Resources Minister Alexander Kozlov, co-chair of the Russian Intergovernmental Commission, welcomed Kim at the station in the border city of Khasan. Meanwhile, President Putin was in Vladivostok, where he chaired a conference on the development of cities and towns in the Far East and addressed the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum.

At the Vostochny Cosmodrome

On September 13, the Russian President traveled by plane from the Primorye Region to the Vostochny Cosmodrome. There, the leader met Maria Andreeva, a high school student from Rostov-on-Don. The girl was among the students who attended and listened to Putin's speech on the topic "Talking about important things" on September 1. At that event, the girl shared with the Russian President her interest in space exploration, especially her passion for satellites.

The North Korean leader took a train to the Cosmodrome, disembarked at the building where the launch vehicle is assembled and tested. He entered the meeting with Mr. Putin in his personal Maybach limousine.

The two leaders shook hands and posed for photos at the main gate of the assembly and inspection building. Mr. Putin introduced Mr. Kim Jong Un to the Vostochny Cosmodrome, and the North Korean leader thanked Mr. Putin for inviting him to visit despite the Russian leader's busy schedule.

Mr. Putin and Mr. Kim Jong Un visited the Angara launch vehicle assembly area.

"This is why we came here (to the Vostochny Cosmodrome). The North Korean leader has shown a strong interest in rocket technology, and they are also looking to develop space exploration capabilities," Putin told reporters.

Mr. Kim Jong Un wrote in the guest book in Korean, with the content: "The glory of Russia as the country of the first space explorers will never fade away."

One-on-one exchanges and negotiations between the two delegations

The talks between the delegations of the two countries took place on the first floor of the technical building of the Soyuz-2 transport rocket unit. The talks lasted more than an hour (in 2019, similar talks lasted about 3.5 hours).

On the Russian side, four deputy prime ministers - Denis Manturov, Marat Khusnullin, Alexey Overchuk and Yury Trutnev - along with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev, Natural Resources Minister Alexander Kozlov, and Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, who visited the North Korean capital in late July, took part in the talks.

On the North Korean side, there was the participation of Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui and Defense Minister Kang Sun Nam, along with Colonel Pak Jong Chon, member of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea.

In the exchange, which lasted nearly 10 minutes including interpretation time and was open to the press, Mr. Putin recalled the "special moment" of holding the exchanges as well as the help the Soviet Union gave to the Korean people in their struggle for independence.

The North Korean leader responded that relations with Moscow were a top priority for Pyongyang and expressed confidence that the summit would help lift ties to a new level. He declared that Russia had waged a "sacred war" to defend its sovereignty and security, and expressed full support for the Russian government.

Following the delegation-to-delegation exchange, Mr. Putin and Mr. Kim Jong Un held a one-on-one exchange that lasted 1 hour (their previous direct conversation lasted about 2 hours), although the content of this was not announced in advance, as Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov only said that this would be done if necessary.

Some of the issues discussed included bilateral cooperation and the situation in and outside the region. In particular, leader Kim Jong Un pointed out that they had mentioned "the military-political situation on the Korean Peninsula and Europe." Mr. Peskov said that no documents were expected to be signed after the talks.

Formal dinner

After the talks, a formal dinner was held to welcome Mr. Kim Jong Un. According to TASS, the menu included dishes such as Kamchatka crab dumplings, grass carp soup and taiga blackcurrants served with pine nuts and condensed milk. Four years ago, typical Far Eastern and Russian specialties such as crab salad, beetroot soup and venison pie were also served.

The two leaders raised their glasses to each other. Mr. Putin raised his glass to the health of Mr. Kim Jong Un and to the prosperity and well-being of the Russian and North Korean people who are working for peace, stability and prosperity in the region.

The leader of the DPRK confidently affirmed at the banquet that the traditional friendly relations between Moscow and Pyongyang will develop into "unbreakable strategic cooperative relations", wished victory to Russia's special military operation and raised a glass to "new victories of great Russia".