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Letters | Kim Jong-un’s meeting with Vladimir Putin sent a message to both China and West
- Readers discuss the implications of the meeting of the leaders of North Korea and Russia, and lessons from history on Russia’s military outcomes
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin remains a strategic win for the former, in capitalising on Putin’s vulnerability and in sending a message to both China and the West.
The global split over Ukraine and the prevailing bloc rivalry have emboldened Pyongyang. Given the new anti-West bulwark, Kim seems confident that he can choose either Moscow or Beijing to latch onto.
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Having a reliable fallback option apart from China would benefit North Korea. Kim is aware that Pyongyang is critical to Beijing as a vital buffer zone from the West, and Kim now has the leverage to offset Pyongyang’s predominant dependence on Beijing for food and economic aid.
Russia is resilient in terms of food security, with long-term returns from its Siberian plank and future trade advantages from its Northern Sea Route which will be crucial for Pyongyang.
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Since the summit with US president Donald Trump in Hanoi in 2019 which did not yield a deal, Kim has lost faith in the US making overtures or changing its orientation.
Denuclearisation negotiations have stalled and sanctions are not working. Kim knows that Biden is preoccupied with Beijing and Moscow, and that he sees Beijing as the most acute threat. Kim is therefore choosing to seize the moment.
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