By Agencies
Seoul: After failing to reach an amicable agreement with US president Donald Trump, North Korean president Kim Jong Un is seeking an ally in Russian president Vladmir Putin.
As a result of this, Kim held secret talks with Putin at a summit which was held on 25 April, 2019 in Vladivostok, Russia. Putin and Kim met on Thursday for the first time at the Far Eastern Federal University on Russky Island in Vladivostok. “Chairman Kim Jong Un is a quite open person, he talks frankly about all the issues on the agenda; bilateral relations, sanctions, the United Nations, their [Pyongyang’s] relations with the United States, of course, about the most important topic, the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula,” Putin told reporters.
The Russian president said he had had a detailed discussion with Kim on various aspects of these issues. Kim, in turn, thanked Putin for a substantive dialogue on issues of mutual interest and expressed hope that the negotiations would continue in a similarly constructive way.   “Mr. President, we have just had a very substantive exchange of views tete-a-tete on the issues of mutual interests and pressing issues. I would like to thank you for time I spent with great pleasure. I hope that our negotiations will similarly continue in a useful and constructive way,” Kim said. This was not only their first summit and Kim’s first visit to Russia since he took power in 2011, but also the North Korean leader’s first overseas trip since his reelection as the chairman of the State Affairs Commission earlier in April.  The summit, which was described as ‘friendly’, led to an agreement between the two leaders to strengthen their strategic partnership for preserving regional peace and security, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
However, after their meeting in Russia, Kim has invited Putin to pay a return visit to the Democratic Republic of North Korea (DPRK). Putin reportedly said that he is ready to visit North Korea. According to  reports, during the bilateral summit in Russia, Kim and Putin agreed to take actions to bring trade and economic relations between Russia and the DPRK to a new level. After the Summit, Putin called Kim a “very open person”, saying that they had detailed, open discussion of sanctions, the US and denuclearisation. Putin stressed that it is important to reinstate the power of international law on the Korean Peninsula. He added that Russia and the US share an interest in the denuclearisation of the peninsula.
