On 27 July, while commemorating the 70th anniversary of what North Korea perversely terms its ‘victory’ in the Korean war, Kim Jong-un proudly gave a guided tour of his intercontinental ballistic missiles, drones and missile engines. The lucky visitor was none other than Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu. Later that day, Shoigu stood next to the Supreme Leader as they watched North Korea’s rockets paraded across Kim Il Sung square.
Now it seems that Shoigu’s visit – the first time a Russian defence minister had come to North Korea since the collapse of the Soviet Union – has paid off. Today, it has been reported that Kim Jong-un is preparing to travel to Russia to meet Vladimir Putin to discuss the sale of weapons.
Just like his father, the paranoid Kim Jong-un does not like flying, nor leaving his country. In February 2019, he endured a two-and-a-half-day journey on a bullet-proof train from Pyongyang to Hanoi to meet Donald Trump, only to come back empty-handed.
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