Putin wants Kim’s boots in Ukraine as Russian troops fail to take objectives | Dr Mathers

Putin wants Kim’s boots in Ukraine as Russian troops fail to take objectives | Dr Mathers

the Russian president to North Korea where he’s been meeting Kim Jong-un sharing their innermost thoughts apparently at a summit in pongyang I’m joining Now by Dr Jenny mats who’s a senior Lector in international politics at abis abis withth University an expert on Russia hi Jenny Hi how are you I’m very good I’m very good what have we what have we learned from their sharing of their MO innermost thoughts well one major uh achievement of this uh visit has is the the sign of a mutual defense pact and I think this is is really the the thing to focus on because um under under this pact from what we understand um Russia and North Korea will you know regard each other as as allies but also uh be willing to come to each other’s defense in in the case of aggression against one or the other and depending on how Loosely this is interpreted um you know this really opens the door potentially for uh certainly in the short term for North Korea to not only provide weapons more weapons more that already has but potentially even to provide troops to fight in the war in Ukraine uh and you know Russia to provide all kinds of of assistance to to North Korea which could uh sort of support their economy and and make them a stronger and more stable country so I think it is quite significant for all of the Hyperbole and the and the know high high flown language I think there are some very concrete practical uh things which have come out of this visit uh they’ve signed a mutual defense treaty as they’re calling it uh Kim Jong saying he fully supports Russia’s invad of Ukraine what what will North Korea want in return for that sort of rhetorical and Military Support so what North Korea wants is is what it can’t easily provide for itself so uh agricultural products food um but also uh technology there’s a mention of sort of medical uh technology and and support of various kinds so the the more of the nuts and bolts of everyday life that the North Korean economy really just has not been able to supply its people with um you know if if North Korea can get these kinds of things from Russia then you know it will create a a much more comfortable life for its people but also potentially a more politically stable uh life for the North Korean leader thanks so much for that that’s Dr Jenny mats a senior Lector in international politics at abist withth University now the sun has just set in North Korea but it is still party time in Pyongyang after President Putin’s first visit to North Korea in 24 years [Music] [Applause] [Music] well is that your kind of party it’s the sound of the main Square in pongyang where North Korea’s Kim Jong-un pulled out all of the stops to greet one of his few allies Vladimir Putin received a rapturous red carpet welcome with crowds waving balloons flags and Roses as a marching band played and ceremonial gunfire rang out I’m sure you can picture it North Korea’s Kim Jong-un called Putin the dearest friend of the Korean people said he fully supports Russ Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and then the two leaders signed a pact of Economic and Military cooperation which Kim called thoroughly peaceful and defensive well a little earlier I spoke to John neelson Wright who’s head of the Japan and careers program at the center for geopolitics at the University of Cambridge can you put into context the significance of this Meetup it’s very significant I mean it’s obviously a much relationship than has existed in the past um it’s not unexpected President Putin of course met um president Kim Kim jongan last autumn in the Far East and there have been efforts by the Russians to cement the bilateral relationship we had a visit in March by the Russian head of intelligence um and of course as has been well telegraphed even though North Korea doesn’t admit to this it has been providing considerable amounts of arms artillery shells missiles to assist Russia in its conflict in Ukraine uh and of course from Korea’s point of view from North Korea’s point of view this closer relationship is beneficial for a lot of reasons it has helped to weaken and undermine the international sanctions regime which is an attempt of course to prevent North Korea from developing its nuclear weapons capability we saw Russia veto in the security Council not so long ago continuation of the so-called panel of experts set up internationally to keep an eye on North Korea’s eular proliferation and development plans that’s further material enhancement if you like of North Korea’s strategic Ambitions and there has been a real appetite on the part of the North Koreans to secure active security support from Russia to help develop its Cutting Edge technology particularly in the satellite space area um it’s yet to be determined whether in fact the Russians are willing to give that support but one thing we see coming out of this visit is a clear commitment to work much more closely together security economic trade and Financial Partners and that’s obviously a worry to the United States and its allies and can you also put into context just how much all of that or any of that changes the world order and I mean I hate to be selfish about it but I’m going to do the UK thing changes our own security if at all in this country well I think for Britain it really does matter I mean we are an indopacific power and we’ve made that very clear through the integrated review and last year the publication of the so-called integrated review refresh East Asia remains a very important part of the world for us economically our bilateral partnership with South Korea underscored by the recent uh Downing Street declaration last year of course we had a summit we had a state visit by President Yun the South Korean president for us it really matters that for our one of our very important liberal Democratic allies they remain safe and secure and North Korea’s um cooperation with Russia is U making that harder for us and of course for us in Europe any efforts by North Korea to support Russia in maintaining its aggression in Ukraine is clearly not in our interest so this matters in both geographical theaters and it matters also because we’ve seen so much progress by North Korea in developing its security capabilities so the agreement which guarantees mutual help in the event of aggression the fact that that is a public agreement the message is being sent out you and I are talking about it today is that so very different to what has happened before or it’s in the publicity of it that we we you know hold a difference I think it’s the latter I mean as a declaratory statement this is designed to say from Moscow and pyongyang’s perspective that efforts by the United States to shore up its Alliance Partnerships with its traditional Partners Tokyo and soul will be met by a similar initiative but if you look at the substance what does that mean um if there were an attack on Russia or on North Korea then the two countries have pledged to work together but that’s still fairly ambiguous in terms of what it actually means in substance and hopefully it’ll never come to that I mean there’s the response on the part of the us and its allies is defensive rather than offensive um and for for Russia of course there’s not only the relationship with North Korea to consider there’s the relationship with South Korea there is there are important trading ties Russia is concerned that South Korea not go further in its support for Ukraine South Korea’s yet to provide if you like lethal support to support Ukraine in its war against Russia and um this has been a bit of a red line for the South Koreans if if North if Russia were to provide unambiguous material help to North Korea that could allow it to undermine the security of South Korea we might see a very different sort of relationship uh and a greater appetite on the part of the South Koreans to do something more substantive when it comes to supporting Ukraine so both countries are in a sense aware that they they they need to be careful about not Crossing one another’s red lines um and that’s why I think this has been couched in Fairly ambiguous terms it’s not um material change but it does signal I think greater political and diplomatic coordination by these two authoritarian regimes there is some concern here John that perhaps defense and our place on the world stage is not playing a big enough part in our domestic politics and in the general election campaign I wonder whether you would agree with that I mean are we obsessing about capital gains tax whilst Armageddon looms no I don’t think I don’t think that’s fair actually and I think if you look at the effort that um sakir stal and the labor party has placed on inoculating themselves from the criticism that labor has been weak on defense I think you do see a serious continued engagement the discussion about the share of our defense expenditure that it should be at 2.5% of GDP both of the main parties have signal their their support for that idea I think it’s a reminder that um we live in a very perilous and uncertain World getting more so uh by the minute and I think you will see if the polls to believed and labor has returned in a couple of weeks time uh a new government will need to take a pretty robust position on maintaining our security interest the question is is the British public prepared to support those initiatives particularly when it involves extensive commitments um quite some distance geographically from from the UK itself it’s all very interesting stuff isn’t it John Nelson Wright who’s head of the Japan and careers program at the center for geopolitics which is at the University of Cambridge

“One major achievement of this visit is the signing of a mutual defence pact.”

The defence pact sealed between Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-Un could result in Korean troops being deployed to Ukraine, says Russian expert Dr Jenny Mathers.

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