FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 13, 2023
Contact: press@defensepriorities.org
WASHINGTON, DC—Today, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Vladivostok, representing Kim’s first trip abroad since 2019. Defense Priorities Director of Asia Engagement Lyle Goldstein issued the following statement in response:
“Two dramatic meetings this week draw attention to power shifts underway in Asia. In meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Vladivostok, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is seeking to break out of isolation by making common cause with the Kremlin. Kim hopes to access Russian high-tech for the development of space satellites, missiles, and undersea warfare capabilities. Putin is primarily interested in securing low-tech munitions for his war effort against Ukraine, but may also seek to alleviate the labor shortage in the Russian economy, including in the Russian Far East, a region that has long benefited from North Korean labor.
“Meanwhile President Joe Biden also went to Hanoi for a meeting with Vietnam’s Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and inked some diplomatic and economic agreements to increase U.S.-Vietnam cooperation. In the background of both meetings is China’s increased heft on the world stage. For Putin and Kim, China is the key broker and may or may not tolerate a new level of North Korea-Russia alignment. Biden’s meeting with Trong involved a more obvious attempt to balance China’s influence. In both Northeast Asia and in Southeast Asia, realism and restraint provide the best roadmap for these altered circumstances. Thus, Beijing will likely prevent too close a partnership between Pyongyang and Moscow. Similarly, Washington and Hanoi need to move cautiously, since Beijing has many levers to pull in the volatile South China Sea dispute. Washington should temper its hopes about Vietnam. Just as Pyongyang is unlikely to become Moscow’s close ally, Hanoi is not about to become a U.S. ally. Hanoi was reported last week to be working on a multi-billion dollar arms purchase from Russia.”
Author
Events on Asia
