North Korean leader Kim Jong Un showcased his most advanced weapons to Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu. Russia is one of the few nations with whom Pyongyang maintains friendly relations.

Walking past huge intercontinental ballistic missiles and previously unseen military drones, Kim Jong Un gave Russia’s defence minister a tour of North Korea’s newest and most advanced weaponry Thursday, state media reported.

After Washington earlier this year accused Pyongyang of supplying Moscow with weapons for its war in Ukraine, photographs in state media showed Kim walking Moscow’s Sergei Shoigu through a vast defence exhibition showcasing the North’s nuclear missiles and what Seoul-based specialist site NK News said were new unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Shoigu and a high-ranking Chinese delegation are in Pyongyang as Kim’s first-known foreign guests since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, as the country marks the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice, which ended open hostilities and is celebrated as Victory Day.

Kim and Shoigu visited the “Weapons and Equipment Exhibition 2023”, the official Korean Central News Agency said, showing photos that featured North Korea’s largest intercontinental ballistic missiles, the Hwasong-17, and the Hwasong-18 solid-fuel ICBM.

Russia, a historic ally of North Korea, is one of a handful of nations with which Pyongyang maintains friendly relations.

Kim and Shoigu had earlier discussed “matters of mutual concern in the field of national defence and security and on the regional and international security environment,” KCNA said.

The North Korean leader has been steadfast in his support for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, including, Washington says, supplying rockets and missiles — a charge Pyongyang has denied.

During the visit, Kim told Shoigu “about the weapons and equipment which were invented and produced” under North Korea’s national defence plan and “repeatedly expressed belief that the Russian army and people would achieve big successes”, KCNA added.

Shoigu’s visit is noteworthy given that Russian defence ministers have not regularly visited Pyongyang since before the collapse of the USSR, experts told AFP.

Marie de La Roche Saint-André, with AFP