For a rare trip abroad, President Kim Jong Un of North Korea has arrives in Vladivostok port city aboard a highly armored bullet proof train.
President Kim who left his country on Sunday has been accompanied by top arms industry and military officials.
The train arrived about 20 hours later in the outskirts of Vladivostok, a city where the Russian President Vladimir Putin is currently attending an economic forum.
Experts suggest Mr Putin is seeking artillery shells and anti-tank missiles from North Korea for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
North Korean leader Kim is reportedly in search of advanced technology for satellites and nuclear-powered submarines.
Washington and its allies have expressed concern at recent signs of closer military co-operation between Russia and the nuclear-armed North Korea.
President Putin at Annual Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok
According to details emerging from the gathering at Vladivostok, Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a wide-ranging address on Tuesday.
He talked about Moscow’s protracted war against Ukraine and anti-war elites in exile, while also playing up Russia’s development of “weapons based on new physical principles.”
“Weapons on new physical principles will ensure the security of any country in the near future. We understand this very well and we’re working on it,” the Russian leader said at the forum’s plenary session.
Putin did not elaborate on the types of futuristic arms his country was working on, but the state-run TASS news agency said they include laser, ultrasonic and radio-frequency weapons.
Shifting to business and the economy, the main topics of the forum, Putin sought to alleviate concerns that his government was expropriating private enterprises amid the Kremlin’s efforts to entice wealthy Russians to bring their assets back home.
“There won’t be any de-privatization, I can tell you that for sure. As far as the prosecutor’s office actively working on certain areas and companies, law enforcement agencies have the right to assess the specific cases of what’s happening in the economy,” he said.
On the foreign affairs front, Putin said he did not expect a change in the United States’ policies toward Russia after the 2024 U.S. presidential elections, as he accused Washington of stoking anti-Russian feelings among ordinary Americans.