SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A day after inspecting Russia’s nuclear-capable bombers and other advanced weapons, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was in a more relaxed mode Sunday, touring a university and putting on a walrus show at a Russian aquarium a closely observed journey to the Russian Far East.
North Korean state media highlighted the focus of Kim’s trip, describing his talks with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to expand “strategic and tactical coordination” between their countries’ militaries, as concerns grow in the West about an arms alliance that may threaten Russia’s President Vladimir could spur Putin’s war against Ukraine.
Russian state news agency RIA Novosti published videos showing Kim – dressed in a black suit and accompanied by his top officials – speaking to Russian officials through translators as he walked through the campus of the Far Eastern Federal University on Russky Island.
According to Russian state media, Kim met with Oleg Kozhemyako, the governor of Russia’s Primorye region, which includes the port city of Vladivostok, as well as Russian Natural Resources Minister Alexander Kozlov and university president Boris Korobets.
An online video posted by Kozlov showed Kim being sheltered from light rain while being shown around the university campus. According to Russian state media, Kozlov told Kim that North Koreans study there and that the school would be happy to have North Korean students study hydropower.
Kozhemyako had previously said he would discuss with Kim exchange programs for school children to attend summer camps in each other’s countries.
Kim was later seen at the island’s Primorsky Aquarium, Russia’s largest aquarium, where he watched performances by beluga whales, bottlenose dolphins, fur seals and the walrus “Misha,” which he seemed to particularly enjoy, according to Russian state media.
Kim’s trip, culminating in a summit with Putin on Wednesday, showed how their interests align amid separate, intensifying confrontations with the West. U.S. and South Korean officials said North Korea could provide much-needed ammunition for Moscow’s war against Ukraine in return for sophisticated Russian weapons technology that would advance Kim’s nuclear ambitions.
A day after visiting an aircraft factory in Komsomolsk-on-Amur that makes Russia’s most powerful fighter jets, Kim traveled on Saturday to an airport near Vladivostok, where Shoigu and other senior military officials gave him a close look at Russia’s strategic bombers and others Fighter aircraft.
All of the Russian fighter jets shown to Kim were of the types actively used in the war in Ukraine, including the Tu-160, Tu-95 and Tu-22 bombers, which regularly fired cruise missiles.
During Kim’s visit, Shoigu and Lt. Gen. Sergei Kobylash, the commander of Russia’s long-range bomber force, confirmed for the first time that the Tu-160 had recently received new cruise missiles with a range of more than 6,500 kilometers (4,040 miles).
Shoigu, who met Kim on a rare visit to North Korea in July, also showed Kim another of Russia’s newest missiles, the Kinzhal hypersonic missile, carried by the MiG-31 fighter jet and which saw its first use during the war in Ukraine.
Kim and Shoigu traveled to Vladivostok later Saturday, where they inspected the frigate Admiral Shaposhnikov. Russian Navy commander Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov briefed Kim on the ship’s capabilities and weapons, which include long-range Kalibr cruise missiles that Russian warships have regularly fired at targets in Ukraine.
KCNA, which reported Kim’s activities in Russia a day late and was preparing the details for government propaganda purposes, said Kim was accompanied on Saturday’s visits by his top military officials, including his defense minister and the top commanders of his air force and navy.
Following a lunch, Kim and Shoigu discussed the regional security environment and exchanged views on “practical issues arising in further strengthening strategic and tactical coordination, cooperation and mutual exchanges between the militaries of the two countries,” KCNA said .
At their meeting in July, Kim subjected Shoigu to a similar inspection of North Korea’s weapons systems before inviting him to a grand parade in the capital Pyongyang where he deployed his most powerful intercontinental ballistic missiles aimed at the United States.
Kim’s visits to military and technology sites this week may hint at what he wants from Russia, perhaps in return for supplying munitions to replenish Putin’s dwindling reserves as his invasion of Ukraine turns into a protracted war of attrition.
Kim’s meeting with Putin took place at Russia’s main spaceport, a site that expressed his desire for Russian support in his efforts to acquire space-based reconnaissance equipment and missile technologies.
Experts said possible military cooperation between the countries could include efforts to modernize North Korea’s aging air force, which relies on fighter jets sent from the Soviet Union in the 1980s.
Kim has also refocused on strengthening the country’s navy in recent months, which analysts say could be driven by ambitions to obtain Russia’s advanced ballistic missile and nuclear submarine technologies, as well as joint naval exercises between Russia and North Korea to initiate.
Later Saturday, Kim visited a local theater to watch Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s ballet performance “Sleeping Beauty.” KCNA said Kim received a rousing ovation from the people in the theater and expressed “deep gratitude to the performers and the theater for her impressive and elegant ballet of high artistic value.”
Russian state media said Kim left after the first act. __ AP journalist Elise Morton contributed from London.