<p>North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, visited a plant that makes fighter jets in the far eastern Russian city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur on Friday, Russian state media reported, continuing a trip that has focused heavily on increasing military ties with Moscow.</p>.<p>Kim arrived in far eastern Russia on Tuesday. The next day, he met President Vladimir Putin of Russia at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, where he viewed powerful rockets similar to the ones that the North hopes to build to launch military satellites.</p>.<p>He arrived in Komsomolsk-on-Amur on Friday morning and visited the Yuri Gagarin aircraft plant, where Russian civilian and military and planes are made, including Su-35 and Su-57 fighter jets, according to Tass, the Russian state news agency. The plant is named after the Soviet cosmonaut who was the first person in space.</p>.North Korea's Kim Jong Un checks out Putin's ride at Russia summit.<p>A short video clip released by the Russian news outlet RIA Novosti on Friday showed Russian officials and North Korean bodyguards waiting at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur train station with a red carpet as Kim’s green armored personal train pulled in. In accordance with a Russian tradition, Kim was welcomed with bread and salt at the station, Tass said.</p>.<p>Kim’s visit to the Russian aviation factory highlighted his ambitions to modernize his country’s aging air force. Many of its war planes are museum pieces old Soviet models provided by Moscow during the 1950-53 Korean War. North Korea, hamstrung by international sanctions, has also struggled to secure fuel and parts for its planes.</p>.<p>In 2013, when Panamanian authorities stopped the North Korean cargo ship Chong Chon Gang, they found 25 shipping containers loaded with two disassembled MIG-21 jet fighters, 15 MIG-21 engines, and missile and other arms components from Cuba. They were hidden under 10,000 tons of sugar.</p>.<p>During the Kim-Putin meeting earlier this week, Russia and North Korea agreed to broad cooperation in the face of their common foe, the United States, as the war in Ukraine grinds on.</p>.<p>Neither government has released details of that cooperation. But Moscow sought to “bring North Korea into its supply chain of artillery shells and missiles” to help aid its war in Ukraine in return for providing the North with military and satellite technology, said Kim Jong-dae, a military expert in South Korea. US officials have repeatedly warned that North Korea is already providing shells and army rockets to Russia.</p>.<p>On his trip, Kim has been accompanied by senior officials in charge of his country’s military and defense industry. His itinerary has also reflected his interest in deepening military ties with Russia. His visits to the spaceport and the aviation plant will be followed by trip to Vladivostok to see Russia’s Pacific Fleet.</p>.Kim Jong Un has something Putin needs, and that's a new wrinkle.<p>Kim also met Putin in Vladivostok in 2019, two months after the North Korean leader’s failed summit meeting in Vietnam with former US President Donald Trump.</p>.<p>Putin has accepted Kim’s invitation to visit North Korea again “at a convenient time,” Pyongyang and Moscow said Thursday. Putin visited Pyongyang in 2000.</p>
<p>North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, visited a plant that makes fighter jets in the far eastern Russian city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur on Friday, Russian state media reported, continuing a trip that has focused heavily on increasing military ties with Moscow.</p>.<p>Kim arrived in far eastern Russia on Tuesday. The next day, he met President Vladimir Putin of Russia at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, where he viewed powerful rockets similar to the ones that the North hopes to build to launch military satellites.</p>.<p>He arrived in Komsomolsk-on-Amur on Friday morning and visited the Yuri Gagarin aircraft plant, where Russian civilian and military and planes are made, including Su-35 and Su-57 fighter jets, according to Tass, the Russian state news agency. The plant is named after the Soviet cosmonaut who was the first person in space.</p>.North Korea's Kim Jong Un checks out Putin's ride at Russia summit.<p>A short video clip released by the Russian news outlet RIA Novosti on Friday showed Russian officials and North Korean bodyguards waiting at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur train station with a red carpet as Kim’s green armored personal train pulled in. In accordance with a Russian tradition, Kim was welcomed with bread and salt at the station, Tass said.</p>.<p>Kim’s visit to the Russian aviation factory highlighted his ambitions to modernize his country’s aging air force. Many of its war planes are museum pieces old Soviet models provided by Moscow during the 1950-53 Korean War. North Korea, hamstrung by international sanctions, has also struggled to secure fuel and parts for its planes.</p>.<p>In 2013, when Panamanian authorities stopped the North Korean cargo ship Chong Chon Gang, they found 25 shipping containers loaded with two disassembled MIG-21 jet fighters, 15 MIG-21 engines, and missile and other arms components from Cuba. They were hidden under 10,000 tons of sugar.</p>.<p>During the Kim-Putin meeting earlier this week, Russia and North Korea agreed to broad cooperation in the face of their common foe, the United States, as the war in Ukraine grinds on.</p>.<p>Neither government has released details of that cooperation. But Moscow sought to “bring North Korea into its supply chain of artillery shells and missiles” to help aid its war in Ukraine in return for providing the North with military and satellite technology, said Kim Jong-dae, a military expert in South Korea. US officials have repeatedly warned that North Korea is already providing shells and army rockets to Russia.</p>.<p>On his trip, Kim has been accompanied by senior officials in charge of his country’s military and defense industry. His itinerary has also reflected his interest in deepening military ties with Russia. His visits to the spaceport and the aviation plant will be followed by trip to Vladivostok to see Russia’s Pacific Fleet.</p>.Kim Jong Un has something Putin needs, and that's a new wrinkle.<p>Kim also met Putin in Vladivostok in 2019, two months after the North Korean leader’s failed summit meeting in Vietnam with former US President Donald Trump.</p>.<p>Putin has accepted Kim’s invitation to visit North Korea again “at a convenient time,” Pyongyang and Moscow said Thursday. Putin visited Pyongyang in 2000.</p>