It looks like President Moon is in Russia setting conditions for any future summit between Putin and Kim Jong-un:
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his wife Kim Jung-sook arrive in Moscow on June 21, 2018 for a three-day state visit that will include a bilateral summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Yonhap)
South Korean President Moon Jae-in began his three-day state visit to Russia on Thursday for a bilateral summit with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that will likely focus on ways to boost the countries’ economic cooperation, as well as joint efforts to rid North Korea of its nuclear weapons.
Moon’s trip marked the first state visit to Russia by a South Korean leader since 1999, according to his office Cheong Wa Dae.
He was set to deliver a special speech at the State Duma, the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, becoming the first South Korean president to do so in history.
He will also meet Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev later in the day for bilateral talks on ways to expand their countries’ bilateral cooperation, Cheong Wa Dae said.
The Moon-Putin summit will be held on Friday, marking the third of its kind since Moon took office in May 2017. The two first met on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit held in Germany in July. They last met in September, when Moon attended the annual Eastern Economic Forum held in the Russian city of Vladivostok. [Yonhap]
With Russian President Vladimir Putin inviting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to his country, expectations are that leaders from the two Koreas may meet in Russia this fall for the first time in a third country.
The Kremlin said Monday Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov delivered Putin’s letter of invitation to Kim for an upcoming economic forum set to take place in Vladivostok in September. This came during the minister’s visit to Pyongyang last month when he met with the regime’s leader to discuss the ongoing denuclearization drive on the Korean Peninsula and Russia’s role to realize the goal.
“Details and time will be further coordinated through diplomatic channels (for Kim’s possible visit to Russia),” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. He said the forum is one of the options that will allow Kim’s possible trip to the country. [Korea Times]
It appears Vladimir Putin does not want to be left out of the current negotiations that are occurring before the ROK-DPRK and US-DPRK summits:
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has received an invitation to visit Russia, according to U.S. Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Dan Coats.
Coats’ claim adds to speculation that Kim may meet Russian President Vladimir Putin to bolster diplomatic leverage on North Korea’s nuclear program before a planned inter-Korean summit on April 27.
Kim, who visited Chinese President Xi Jinping in late March, is scheduled to send his Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho to Russia next week.
Russian news agency TASS reported that on Wednesday Coats mentioned Kim’s invitation to Moscow when asked about the possibility of resuming the six-party talks on North Korea’s denuclearization in the wake of the Kim-Xi meeting.
TASS said the DNI chief told reporters in Washington, D.C., he is trying to discover what the North Korean leader intends to discuss in Russia. [Korea Times]
That is what the Korea Times is speculating about:
Vladimir Putin
With North Korean leader Kim Jong-un making a surprise visit to China, chances are that the dictator will also hold dialogue with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
The possibility has risen after Kim ended his four-day state visit to Beijing on Wednesday. Kim, accompanied by his wife, Ri Sol-ju, met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
The meeting between the two leaders came at a time when the North Korean leader plans to hold dialogue with President Moon Jae-in and United States President Donald Trump in April and May, respectively.
Kim’s unprecedented active determination for dialogue also raises hopes for a possible meeting with the Russian leader.
The Kremlin dismissed the possibility for a potential summit between Kim and Vladimir Putin. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Wednesday that no schedule for the summit has been arranged and is not under review at the moment.
But chances are that Pyongyang and Moscow could join hands, as Russia also apparently hopes to play a part in the ongoing North Korea nuclear issues. [Korea Times]
I guess we will see over the next month if Putin wants to insert himself into the current negotiations going on over the future of the Korean peninsula.
Here is the latest on what Russian strongman President Vladimir Putin had to say about the current crisis over North Korea’s nuclear program:
Vladimir Putin
A global strike to disarm North Korea would be possible, yet its outcome uncertain, as it is a “closed state,” Russian President Vladimir Putin stated.
“Let us speak to the point, after all – can someone launch a global disarming strike? Indeed. Will it reach its targets? It’s unclear because no one knows for sure what is where,” Putin said while addressing the 2017 International Forum on Energy Efficiency on Wednesday.
He added there is no “100 percent knowledge” about North Korea’s objects as it is “a closed country.”
Meanwhile, Putin said, coercive rhetoric against Pyongyang and attempts “to speak from a position of strength” only give more power to the North Korean leadership.
The Russian leader urged all sides to cool down their rhetoric and engage in dialogue.
“All sides must ease rhetoric and find ways for face-to-face dialogue between the United States and North Korea, as well as between North Korea and countries in the region,” he said.
“Only this would help find balanced and reasonable decisions.”
“At any rate, it is not my cup of tea to define and assess policies of the United States president,” Putin added. [Russia Today]
You can read more at the link. Of course no one knows exactly where every strategic military asset the North Koreans have is located at. However, we do know where the Yonbyong nuclear facility, their test launch site, SLBM barge, and missile manufacturing facilities are located at. Taking those out would not end their nuclear or missile programs, but would set them back.
I am sure the irony is lost on few that President Putin is advocating against militarism and provocations and instead for everyone to get together and talk considering how own actions in Ukraine and Georgia in recent years:
(CNN)Russian President Vladimir Putin has weighed into the North Korea crisis, warning the US and others against going down a “dead-end road” and calling for talks to resolve the issue.
“Russia believes that the policy of putting pressure on Pyongyang to stop its nuclear missile program is misguided and futile,” Putin said in an article released Thursday by the Kremlin, ahead of the BRICS summit in Xiamen, China.
“The region’s problems should only be settled through a direct dialogue of all the parties concerned without any preconditions. Provocations, pressure and militarist and insulting rhetoric are a dead-end road,” Putin said.
Russia was a participant in the six-party talks, which took place in the mid-2000s in an attempt to get North Korea to abandon its then burgeoning nuclear program. [CNN]
I don’t think too many world leaders would want to have a photo op with Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un; so I can’t blame President Park for turning down this invitation:
South Korean President Park Geun-hye is not expected to attend Russia’s World War II victory anniversary celebration next month, an event North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is scheduled to show up at.
Instead, Park will dispatch a special envoy to Moscow, the ruling Saenuri Party’s Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun, South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Saturday.
There was anticipation of a possible summit between the North and South Korean leaders at the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II on May 9 should Park have chosen to accept the Kremlin’s invitation.
Russia invited world leaders, including Park and Kim, to the event last December. North Korea’s Kim accepted the invitation last month, according to Russian officials.
Kim, should he visit Russia next month for the event, would be embarking on his first foreign trip after succeeding his father in December 2011. It would mark the first time a North Korean leader did not visit China as his first overseas destination. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
South Korean President Park Geun-hye (R) meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing on Nov. 11, 2014, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae released the photo on Nov. 17. (Yonhap)
