Kim, Putin Boost Economic, Security Ties --- During one-on-one summit, the leaders pledge deeper military relations.

"Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un flaunted their burgeoning friendship at a summit, displaying a partnership that unnerves the West over concerns that North Korea will provide munitions to support Moscow's conflict in Ukraine.

Meeting Wednesday at Russia's main spaceport, the leaders vowed greater cooperation on economic and security issues -- and took aim at the U.S.-led global order. Putin promised assistance on North Korea's satellite endeavors. Kim pledged an unbreakable bond with Moscow.

Without mentioning adversaries by name, Kim declared confidence in Putin's ability to win the Ukraine conflict and create a stable environment for development, according to Russia's state news agency TASS. The North Korean leader described the Ukraine conflict as the "sacred struggle to punish the gathering of evil that claims hegemony and nourishes expansionist illusions."

The exchange occurred at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, in Russia's Far East, during the second in-person meeting between the leaders. Putin said he had a "frank exchange" with Kim, including talks on Russian assistance with agricultural development in North Korea, according to Russian state media.

For Moscow and Pyongyang, the summit offers a rare moment to display unapologetic friendship. The leaders have drawn closer since events in Ukraine and North Korea's return to long-range missile testing -- behavior that has left both countries more isolated and ostracized.

That has converged the world views of Kim and Putin as they confront a similar set of challenges: weakened economies, international sanctions and strengthened U.S. alliances. The meeting also gives each leader an opportunity to show that powerful allies remain on his side.

But the get-together could deliver more than just diplomatic showmanship. The U.S. and its allies have warned the meeting could advance an arms sale between the two countries, with North Korea offering ammunition to help restock Russia's supplies.

The West had thought Russia might be able to produce about one million artillery shells a year. But now, the assessment is that Russia is on a path during the next couple of years to produce two million artillery shells annually, according to a Western official. To put that in perspective, the official said, Russia fired 10 million to 11 million shells last year and was sometimes using shells that were out of date and prone to malfunction.

To sustain the effort, Russia has boosted military spending by some 30%, which has had a distorting effect on its economy by forcing cutbacks elsewhere and prompting an increase in interest rates, the official said.

Some current and former U.S. officials played down the impact of the summit. "It shows how desperate Russia is that they are engaged with the DPRK," said Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, referring to North Korea by the acronym for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"It looked like an opportunistic photo shoot," with no joint statement on agreements released afterward, said Sydney Seiler, a former U.S. national intelligence officer for North Korea, who left the U.S. government in July. "These are two countries that don't have a lot to offer each other, other than shared talking points" about their fight against the West.

Still, Seiler said, Kim has jettisoned his reticence to publicly support Putin. "That, I think, is the big thing that has changed."

Hours before the summit, North Korea launched two ballistic missiles off its east coast, Japanese and South Korean officials said. Conducting weapons tests while Kim is away could be a demonstration that the regime maintains military readiness despite the leader's absence, Pyongyang watchers said.

Many of North Korea's missiles are based on Soviet-era technology, and its artillery shells are compatible with much of Moscow's weapons systems, weapons experts say.

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Meeting Could Give Others the Green Light to Trade With North Korea

The Soviet Union had served as North Korea's main benefactor for decades, though the assistance dried up after the Cold War. Since then, the two countries' economic ties have been limited, especially compared with Pyongyang's trade volumes with Beijing.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's regime has come to rely overwhelmingly on China, which represented roughly 97% of Pyongyang's foreign trade in 2022, South Korean data show. That was the highest level during Kim's decade or so in power. Russia didn't rank among North Korea's five largest trade partners.

Kim's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin -- by validating closer coordination between the two nations -- also could give some countries and private enterprises the green light to resume doing business with North Korea, said Darya Dolzikova, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based defense and security think tank. Russia has veto power at the United Nations Security Council as a permanent member.

The summit "may legitimize trade with North Korea," she said. "It sort of suggests Russia won't stand in the way of other countries engaging with North Korea.""

1. World News: Kim, Putin Boost Economic, Security Ties --- During one-on-one summit, the leaders pledge deeper military relations. Yoon, Dasl; Martin, Timothy W; Pancevski, Bojan. 
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 14 Sep 2023: A.8.