Russian President Vladimir Putin signaled a potential willingness to assist North Korea in developing its space and satellite program Wednesday, as he gave Kim Jong Un a tour of Russia’s vast Vostochny space launch site ahead of expected arms talks.
When asked by a reporter whether Russia would help North Korea launch its own satellites and rockets, Putin responded: “That’s exactly why we came here.”
“The leader of North Korea shows great interest in space, in rocketry, and they are trying to develop space. We’ll show our new objects,” Putin said at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, in Russia’s far east Wednesday. “We’ll talk about all the issues without haste, there is time.”
My bet is he’s not “asking for help”. I’m willing to bet he’s going to sell them some weapons tech that’s way ahead of anything the DPRK currently have, and there’s a good chance it might be missile and/or nuclear warhead tech. Putin’s logic is likely along the lines of “the west is already sanctioning our balls off, so why the fuck not?”