The Grim Endgame of Putin and Kim Jong Un’s New Lovefest

SEOUL—Kim Jong Un got the treatment worthy of a head of state in an unusual setting—a tour as Vladimir Putin’s guest at the Vostochny Cosmodrome east of Russia’s Amur River from which the Russians have been launching rockets into space since 2016.

The personal tour on Wednesday, followed by a sumptuous state dinner, may signal that the Russians are willing to provide Kim’s regime with the technology needed to fulfill his dream of putting satellites into orbit as a reward for supplying Russian forces with much needed artillery shells. North Korea was also expected to sell the Russians a wide range of other infantry and artillery equipment from its stockpiles as well as brand new stuff being produced in factories hidden around the country

“The agreement involves much more than shells,” said Yoon Eui-chul, a retired South Korean army lieutenant general attending a conference at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses in Seoul. He said the North Koreans could sell Russia not only the shells it urgently needs, but also other weaponry for lower prices than it costs to make them in Russia.

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