New Russian Ambassador to DPRK Presents Credentials

Russian diplomat Alexander Timonin (highlighted) has been appointed his country’s ambassador to the DPRK. (Photo: Yoav Cerralbo/Korea Herald)

The Russian Federation has appointed a new Ambassador to the DPRK.  Alexandr Timonin has worked in the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Asia Department, served as an at-large ambassador and was an interim manager of Russia’s embassy in Pyongyang.  Timonin also gave an interview to Kommersant in 2011 on plans to construct an oil pipeline running through the DPRK into South Korea, which he said reached a “milestone” after outgoing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met with Kim Jong Il in Ulan Ude in August 2011.  Timonin replaces Valery Sukhinin, who was appointed in 2007.  Sukhinin accompanied Kim Jong Il on his trip to Russia’s Far East in 2011.  He also attended a March 2012 concert by the U’nhasu Orchestra at which he danced with one of the performers and was greeted by Kim Jong Un (Kim Cho’ng-u’n).  In April, Sukhinin made a farewell tour around Pyongyang, meeting with DPRK Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun, Supreme People’s Assembly Presidium President Kim Yong Nam and receiving the DPRK Order of Friendship.

On 3 May (Thursday), Timonin presented his credentials to Kim Yong Nam.  KCNA reports:

Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly of the DPRK, received credentials from Alexandr Timonin, Russian ambassador to DPRK, at the Mansudae Assembly Hall on May 3.

Kim had a talk with him after receiving the credentials.

Write Offs & SAR Exercises

Kim Jong Il and Jang Song Taek at a dinner with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev near Ulan Ude (Photo: KCNA-Yonhap)

Kim Jong Il’s “fun trip” to Siberia and Russia’s Far East and his meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has started to yield fruit.  An anonymous official in Russia’s Ministry of Finance told Izvestiya that it had finalized plans to cancel 90% of the DPRK’s $11 billion debt to the former Soviet Union.  The remaining 10% will be invested in joint projects to be developed within the DPRK.  In Moscow, DPRK Minister of Oil Industry, Kim Hui Yong (Kim Hu’i-yo’ng) met with Gazprom officials to discuss “practical organization” in pipeline construction, as well as establishing a “working group.”  Kim’s meeting occurred about a week after Gazprom ceremoniously opened the Sakhalin-Vladivostok pipeline.  It also took place while the head of ROK’s KOGAS arrived in Moscow to meet with Gazprom officials. Kim So-hyun of  Korea Herald writes:

On Wednesday, the South’s Korea Gas Corp. said that its president, Choo Kang-soo, left for Russia for meetings with officials of Russia’s largest gas firm Gazprom. His departure came a day after North Korea’s Oil Industry Minister Kim Hui-yong headed to Russia, according to Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency.

Choo, as then vice president of Hyundai Corp., had assisted Lee as Hyundai E&C sought to ink the MOU with Moscow two decades ago.

KOGAS and Gazprom had signed a memorandum of understanding in September 2008 in which the two agreed to push for the pipeline natural gas project. Lee then named Choo as head of KOGAS.

“Talks on the PNG project began to speed up recently,” KOGAS spokesman Song Jae-ho said.

Choo met with Alexander Ananenkov, deputy chairman of Gazprom’s management committee, early last month in Russia. North Korea’s Kim also met with Ananenkov early July in Pyongyang.

Last month, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il said he supports Moscow’s long-sought project to push for gas exports to Korea during summit talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

The discussions between KOGAS and Gazprom are expected to be followed up by Korea-Russia joint economic committee meetings on Oct. 24-25 in Seoul, in which Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan and Russian Minister of Regional Development Viktor Basargin will take part as head of delegations.

Basargin held similar meetings with North Korea late last month in which the two sides negotiated the PNG project.

Trans-Siberian railway (Photo: rail.co)

In October, Russia has planned to run a “demonstration” railway trip from Khasan, the city where KJI first arrived in August, to Rajin-So’nbong (Naso’n).  Rail.co reports:

The project aims to reconstruct an existing section of the railway, the Port of Rajin cargo terminal, and the subsequent use of this infrastructure for transit, with access to the Trans-Siberian Railway.

The project aims not only to restore this section of railway, but also to make full use of the container port of Rajin.

“Now we shall consider the question of the transportation of coal”, noted Russian Railways president Vladimir Yakunin.

The shortest path between the European Union and Southeast Asia (a region which produces up to 70% of the world’s GDP) is through Russia.

Traditionally, the choice has boiled down to either shipping things by sea or via the Trans-Siberian, but the increased demand for transcontinental transportation is now generating corresponding proposals, and there are about two dozen different versions of new corridors that could potentially win up to 40% of the traffic from the traditional routes.

In this regard, the implementation of international projects that could be acquired for the Far Eastern Railway are of ‘particular importance’.

In the course of the reconstruction project in 2011, Russian Railways will install 56 track switches and more than 64 km of main and secondary rail routes. To date, 36 track switches have been installed by contractors, who have repaired 14.6 km of secondary tracks and 6 km of the main line.

Asahi Shimbun, citing a source in the DPRK, and other media report that the Russian and DPRK navies will conduct joint search and rescue (SAR) exercises in 2012.  The agreement to conduct the exercises was reached when the Russian Federation Armed Forces Eastern Military District Commander visited the DPRK.  He met with KPA Chief of the General Staff, Ri Yong Ho (Ri Yo’ng-ho) on 25 August.  The DPRK has not conducted any official or reported military or security exercises with another country for some time.  During the 1980s the KPA Navy (Korean People’s Navy) used to send a flotilla on alternate years to visit Vladivostok.

There may be an additional military exchange between the DPRK and Russia.  Russian military officials would like to increase its number of sniper units, in the event that Jasmine winds should blow in its direction.  RIA Novosti reports:

An RBC Daily source in the Defense Ministry said that each brigade will most likely have a sniper platoon. The source admitted that initially sniper rifles will be bought abroad. Contract sergeants, who will be hired starting in mid-2012, will form the core of the sniper corps.

“This is an absolutely correct decision, since the experience of the first and second Chechen wars has proven the importance and effectiveness of sniper groups in military units,” Igor Korotchenko, a member of the Defense Ministry’s public council, told RBC Daily. “It is important that the snipers attached to brigades will be armed with good foreign-made rifles, which promises higher effectiveness and greater shooting power.”

“Currently, the North Korean military has the largest number of snipers with ten sniper brigades,” Anatoly Tsyganok, director of the Military Forecasting Center at the Political and Military Analysis Institute, told RBC Daily. “Moreover, the North Korean military is the only in the world to have not only snipers but also 300 professionally trained suicide servicemen. Of course, Russia need not draw on that kamikaze experience, but it should analyze North Korea’s experience of sniper training because our next task will be to train a large number of snipers. We must decide where to recruit them, how to train them and who will train them.”

The Soviet school of sniper training was very good, but it gradually went into decline, analysts say. “Each sniper is unique. It takes years to train one, which means they must definitely be contract servicemen,” Korotchenko said. “We cannot hope for conscripted servicemen to fill the gap like they did in the past, when naturally gifted people were recruited from among conscripts and trained to shoot faultlessly from a Dragunov sniper rifle.”

Meanwhile, Stephen Blank penned a fascinating analysis of KJI’s trip to Russia for Eurasia Daily Monitor:

Moscow’s motives are also discernible. Medvedev has added a major new impetus to Russia’s desire to be seen as a key player in Northeast Asia, mainly through energy, and as a corollary of this standing, through its position in the six-party talks that had been less than prominent. Therefore, many Russian writers talked of possible breakthroughs stemming from this meeting and its agreements (The Voice of Russia, August 25; Moskovskiy Novosti Online, August 22). Likewise, these talks help foster a much less threatening atmosphere than was the case in 2010, when Moscow literally feared that the Korean peninsula was on the brink of war. Stability in Korea is a sine qua non of Russia’s East Siberian development strategy upon which its entire “Ostpolitik” stands. So, to the degree it can seemingly upgrade its standing and facilitate that stability, Moscow will seize any such opportunity. Third, as noted above, Russia is able to resume rivalry with China, albeit under the guise of a strategic partnership with China for influence in and over North Korea, and gain leverage over Beijing by actually building a gas pipeline to Asia. Chinese-Russian talks on a gas pipeline to China are deadlocked, while the idea of such a trans-Korean pipeline is almost a decade old (the idea of the railroad dates back further to Sergei Witte). These manifestations of an energy silk road or iron silk road, as they are called, are integral to Russian policy in Asia, but have been blocked due to the conflict over Korea. By receiving assent to a Korean pipeline, Moscow not only advances toward achieving multiple long-held goals, it also raises pressure on China (or at least thinks it does) with the fact that Moscow now has alternatives in Asia. And at the same time, it gains more access to North Korea – apparently, a Russian intelligence officer will mentor Kim Jong Un, Kim Jong Il’s son and successor, on world affairs.

Kim Jong Il Makes His Return (Revised)

A view of Manzhouli Railway Station at the Russia-China border (Photo: Google image)

Kim Jong Il (Kim Cho’ng-il) is returning to the DPRK.  The locomotive of his personal  train was spotted in northeastern China at the Russia-China border in Manzhouli, according to Yonhap.  KCNA reported that KJI “will pay a visit to the Northeast area of the People’s Republic of China on August 25 on his way home.”

Back in the DPRK, KCNA reported on Kim Jong Il’s (Kim Cho’ng-il) meeting and the other events that he attended with Russian President Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev.  While mentioning KJI’s pronouncement on the country’s return to the Six Party Talks, KCNA did not mention anything about his declaration to suspend nuclear weapons tests or production.

Kim Jong Il departs the summit talks with Dmitry Medvedev, seen at the right is his current wife Kim Ok (Photo: RIA Novosti)

First, KCNA reported about KJI’s initial interaction with Medvedev, at the Sosnovy Bor hotel where the Russian President was staying during his visit to the area:

Kim Jong Il exchanged warm greetings with Medvedev and had a talk with him.

The president warmly welcomed leader Kim Jong Il visiting Russia by sparing precious time despite his tight schedule leading the building of a prosperous and powerful country in the DPRK on behalf of the Russian government and the people. He said that the visit would mark a particularly important occasion in further developing the Russia-DPRK friendly relations as required by the new century.

The third visit to Russia paid by Kim Jong Il in the new century clearly proves what importance he is attaching to the Russia-DPRK friendship, he noted, paying high tribute to Kim Jong Il who has made an immortal contribution to the development of the Russia-DPRK friendship.

Kim Jong Il expressed his pleasure of meeting with Medvedev and thanked him for coming all the way to Ulan-Ude to kindly meet with him. He gave his impressions of his visit to the Far East and Siberian regions under the great concern of the Russian government and people and amid their cordial hospitality.

Kim Jong Il and Dmitry Medvedev sit for a media availability on 24 August 2011in Ulan Ude (Photo: Kremlin)

KJI and Medvedev then made their way to the military base for their meeting.  Only five (5) of the dozen or so reported members of KJI’s travel party were reported as attending.  Jang Song Taek (Chang So’ng-t’aek) was not reported to have attended the interaction.  Interestingly in this and other KCNA reporting on the trip, VMar Kim Yong Chun (Kim Yo’ng-ch’un) was identified as a member of the Political Bureau and minister of the People’s Armed Forces, but not Vice-Chairman of the National Defense Commission (NDC).

Kim Jong Il thanked the Russian president and other central leading officials and the governments and people of different regions for kindly receiving him wherever he went and according him cordial hospitality and extended his regards to the Russian people.

He said he witnessed the successes achieved by the Russian government and people in the work to modernize the economy, bolster the defense capability and achieve social stability under the leadership of Medvedev and got better knowledge of the history and culture of Russia while touring several cities and units of the vast Far East and Siberian regions. He hoped the Russian people would enjoy prosperity in the future, too.

At the talks the top leaders of the two countries informed each other of the situation in their countries and appreciated with satisfaction the favorably developing bilateral relations. They exchanged their views on developing the bilateral relations and reached a consensus of views on all the issues discussed.

The two top leaders were unanimous in saying that boosting the bilateral friendly and cooperative relations with a long historical tradition is not only in line with the desire of the two peoples and their fundamental interests but is of important significance in developing Northeast Asia and defending world peace and security.

The Russian president reiterated that the Russian side would join the DPRK side in boosting the Russia-DPRK good-neighborly, friendly and cooperative relations and thus making a positive contribution to bringing greater well-being to the two peoples.

Kim Jong Il reiterated the determination of the government and people of the DPRK to make every possible effort to further develop the traditional bilateral friendly and cooperative relations in the future, too.

At the talks the top leaders underlined the need for the two countries to boost the friendship, equality and mutually beneficial cooperative relations in the spirit of the DPRK-Russia Joint Declaration inked in Pyongyang in 2000, the 2001 DPRK-Russia Moscow Declaration and the Treaty of Friendship, Good-neighborliness and Cooperation between the DPRK and Russia.

They expressed firm belief that the cause of building a prosperous and powerful nation in the DPRK and that of building a powerful state in Russia would surely be accomplished thanks to the two peoples’ vigorous struggle for social progress and development. They expressed mutual support and solidarity with the cause.

The two top leaders had an in-depth exchange of views on regional and international issues at the talks.

The Russians arranged a performance for KJI:

The performance was given by well-known national art troupes, people’s and merited artistes and international concourse winners of Russia.

Their repertoire included chorus “Song of General Kim Jong Il,” an immortal revolutionary hymn, chorus and dance “Katyusa,” song and dance suite “Land of friendship,” chorus “Russia and Korea, eternal friends.”

The performers expressed boundless reverence and thanks of the Russian people for Kim Jong Il for making an undying contribution to the development of traditional DPRK-Russia friendship.

Pleasant and optimistic dances and songs showcased part of a long history and culture of the Russian people and culture of the Buryat.

The performance was acclaimed by the audience for its high artistic value.

Kim Jong Il conveyed a floral basket to the artistes for their successful performance.

Medvedev also hosted “a grand banquet” for the DPRK officials:

Kim Jong Il was present at the banquet on invitation.

Also present there on invitation were Kim Yong Chun, member of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee and minister of the People’s Armed Forces, Kang Sok Ju, member of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee and vice-premier of the Cabinet, Jang Song Thaek, alternate member of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee and vice-chairman of the NDC, Kim Yang Gon, Pak To Chun and Thae Jong Su, alternate members of the Political Bureau and secretaries of the WPK Central Committee, Ju Kyu Chang, alternate member of the Political Bureau and department director of the WPK Central Committee, Pak Pong Ju, first vice department director of the WPK Central Committee, O Su Yong, chief secretary of the North Hamgyong Provincial Committee of the WPK, Kim Kye Gwan, first vice-minister of Foreign Affairs, Kim Yong Jae, DPRK ambassador to Russia, Sim Kuk Ryong, consul general of the DPRK Consulate General in Nakhodka of Russia, and other suite members.

Present there together with Medvedev were Alexandr Avramov, assistant to the president for regional policy, Sergei Prikhodiko, assistant to the president for external policy, Viktor Ishayev, presidential envoy to the Far East Region of the Russian Federation, Viktor Tolokonski, presidential envoy to the Siberian Region of the Russian Federation, Anatoly Serzhukov, minister of Defense, Igor Levitin, minister of Transport, Viktor Basargin, minister of Regional Development who is chairman of the Russian side to the Governmental Committee between Russia-DPRK for the Cooperation of Trade and Economy, Science and Technology, Valery Sukhinin, Russian ambassador to the DPRK, Aleksei Borodavkin, vice-minister of Foreign Affairs, Byacheslav Nagovitsin, president of the Republic of Buryatia, Matbei Gershevich, chairman of the People’s Khural, Gennadi Aidayev, mayor of Ulan-Ude, Anatoly Sidorov, first vice commander of the Eastern Military District of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Tsilko, commander of the 36th Combined Forces of the Eastern Military District, and other central and local leading officials and commanding officers of the armed forces.

Dmitri Anatoliyevich Medvedev made a speech at the banquet.

Kim Jong Il spoke next.

The banquet proceeded in an amicable atmosphere overflowing with friendship.

According to KCNA Medvedev, in part, said:

The good neighborly relations between our two countries have a solid foundation. This is not merely because of geographical proximity and long-standing bilateral relations.

The cooperation between Russia and the DPRK has great potential.

To realize cooperation between the two countries will bring a lot of benefits including not a few economic fruits to our two peoples.

Today I and Your Excellency Kim Jong Il agreed to further political dialogue and comprehensively develop working cooperation.

There is great possibility of cooperation for us in the educational and cultural fields, too.

The Russian center has already operated in Pyongyang for the last three years and students of the DPRK are studying and having training programs at universities of Russia.

Art groups of Russia made ceaseless performance tours of the DPRK and it has become a tradition for them to participate in the April Spring Friendship Art Festival.

The contacts between the regions of the two countries have become more brisk recently.

Documents on establishing sister relations between various cities of Russia and the DPRK are in the making.

Cooperation among Russia, the DPRK and the Republic of Korea in carrying out the grand plans in the fields of infrastructure and power has a great prospect.

I am convinced that to realize this cooperation would be beneficial to all our three countries and have a positive impact on providing favorable environment for dialogue and confidence-building between the DPRK and the ROK.

It is our common task to put an end to the confrontation between the north and the south that has lasted for more than half a century, I think.

We will in the future, too, contribute to seeking political and economic solutions to turn the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia into regions in which durable peace and security are settled.

Respected friends,

Hoping you will have good impressions during your stay in Russia, let me propose to toast to the good health of respected Your Excellency Kim Jong Il, chairman of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK, and to the good health of all those present here and to the well-being and prosperity of the peoples of the DPRK and Russia.

According to KCNA, Kim Jong Il’s after-dinner speech said, in part:

It gives me great pleasure to revisit Siberia and the Far East Region of Russia, a friendly neighbor, after the lapse of a decade and meet with you.

Allow me to express, first of all, my heartfelt thanks to you for traveling thousands of kilometers to come to Ulan-Ude from Moscow, the capital city, warmly greeting us and providing us with such meaningful place today.

It gives us particular pleasure to visit your country for the third time in the new century and see for ourselves the achievements made by your people in building powerful and modern Russia.

The Russian government and people are registering many successes in the work to bolster the defence capability of the country and achieve the modernization of economy and social and political stability and working hard to establish a fair international order against high-handed and arbitrary practices under your leadership.

It is our sincere hope that the efforts of the friendly Russian government and people to defend world peace and security and build rich and powerful Russia will bear good fruits.

The peoples of our two countries have given steady continuity to the history and tradition of friendship along with the placid flow of the River Tuman.

We are glad to see that the friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries have favorably developed in various fields recently.

To steadily develop in depth the history and tradition of the DPRK-Russia friendship entirely conforms with the interests of the two peoples and is of weighty significance in defending the peace and stability in Northeast Asia.

We are convinced that the summit meeting today will undoubtedly mark an important landmark in boosting the DPRK-Russia relations in line with the aspiration and desire of the two peoples and turning Northeast Asia into the region for peace and cooperation.

We will in the future, too, make every effort to boost the traditional DPRK-Russia friendly and cooperative relations.

In closing, I, availing myself of this opportunity overflowing with the friendship, would like to propose a toast to the strengthening and development of the traditional friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries, to the good health of Respected Your Excellency President Dmitri Anatoliyevich Medvedev and to the good health of the dear friends of Russia and all those present here.

Medvedev later saw KJI depart from Ulan Ude.  In a separate piece, KCNA reported that “the Korean people are now making great achievements in their work to delight leader Kim Jong Il when he returns home from his unofficial visit to Siberian and Far East regions of the Russian Federation.”

The president hoped that he would meet with leader Kim Jong Il again and sincerely wished him greater success in his important work for building a prosperous and powerful country.

Kim Jong Il once again extended thanks to the president, the government and the people of Russia for having accorded him cordial hospitality with all sincerity during his visit and wished them new success in the efforts for the economic development of the country and the well-being of the people.

Kim Jong Il and Dmitri Anatoliyevich Medvedev shook hands with each other before bidding farewell.

The revisit paid by Kim Jong Il to Russia for steadily strengthening and developing the DPRK-Russia friendship proved successful thanks to the particular concern and hospitality of the Russian president including leading officials of the Russian government and various regions and their people.

He expressed his satisfaction over the results of the visit and sincere thanks to the Russian people for their warmest hospitality.

Kim Jong Il’s historical visit to Russia will go a long way towards boosting the traditional DPRK-Russia friendship and record another brilliant chapter in its history.

One projected rail route for Kim Jong Il's return to the DPRK (Photo: Google image)

Kim Jong Il Meets with Medvedev

Kim Jong Il steps out of his car prior to meeting Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on 24 August 2011 outside of Ulan Ude in Siberia (Photo: RIA Novosti)

Kim Jong Il (Kim Cho’ng-il) met with Russian Federation President Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev on Wednesday (24 August) at a military compound outside of Ulan Ude in Siberia.  During the meeting, KJI said that he would consider suspending any additional nuclear weapons development, testing and production as part of an oft-repeated pledge for the DPRK to return to the Six Party Talks.  RT reports:

North Korea is ready to return to the Six-Party negotiation table unconditionally and to do so, Kim Jong-il promised his country will impose moratorium on nuclear testing and nuclear weapons production.

Presidential Press Secretary Natalia Timakova announced these results of the meeting on Wednesday.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his North Korean counterpart have met in the secluded military compound Sosnovy Bor (Pine Wood) on the outskirts of the capital of Republic of Buryatia, Ulan-Ude. The talks lasted for two hours and ten minutes.The leaders shook hands for protocol photos in the presence of press, then proceeded to negotiate behind closed doors. Few results were announced once the negotiations were over, including little information about the topics of discussion.

Surely, tense topics have been discussed during the meeting. Most likely the talks were focused on Six-Party Talks: North Korea withdrew from the Six-Party Talks (which include North and South Koreas, Russia, China, US and Japan) and continued with its nuclear experiments, defiant in its continuation of its nuclear program, predictably causing outrage not only within the Six Parties, but the whole of the international community.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (L) meets with Kim Jong Il, the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), near Russia's eastern Siberian city of Ulan Ude, Aug. 24, 2011. (Xinhua/RIA NOVOSTI)

KJI and Medvedev also discussed the formation of a three-country commission to oversee the development and construction of a gas pipeline running from Russia through the DPRK to ROK.  ITAR-TASS reports:

Medvedev said, “We achieved certain results on gas cooperation. In particular, a decision has been taken to create a special commission for gas transit to the Republic of Korea via the territory of the DPRK.”

“The DPRK seeks to realise this project,” the Russian president stressed. At the same time, he pointed out that the gas pipeline of 1,100 km long was planning to be built.

“This year it will be possible to transport up to 10 billion cubic metres of gas by this pipeline. If there is demand, we are ready to increase our supplies,” Medvedev said.

“We instructed our agencies to create a special commission in order to determine concrete parameters of gas cooperation via the territory of the DPRK and involve South Korea in this project due to the fact that main consumers are deployed on its territory,” the Russian president said.

He noted, “The DPRK seeks to realise such tripartite project with the participation of Russia and South Korea. Now we are starting a technical work.” “Some time ago the Gazprom delegation led by the deputy head of the board visited the DPRK. Yesterday I instructed [the company’s head Alexei] Miller to deal with this problem. We’ll hope that there will be a good project,” Medvedev said.

A delegation from Russia’s Gazprom gas giant visited North Korea last week, for the latest in a sudden flurry of mysterious contacts between Moscow and the isolated state, the company said.

The Gazprom team was headed by deputy managing chairman Alexander Ananenkov, who met with North Korea’s oil minister to discuss “outstanding issues of cooperation in the energy sphere,” the Russian company said.

The construction of a gas pipeline between Russia and South Korea via the DPRK will guarantee the restoration and strengthening of trust between Seoul and Pyongyang, said Georgy Toloraya, director of research programmes at the Centre for Modern Korean Studies, Institute of World Economy and International Relations.

Commenting on a visit to Russia by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, Toloraya said, “The upcoming talks between the Russian and North Korean leaders are important. The six-party consultations may resume. North Koreans said they were ready to resume negotiations and discus the nuclear programme. It will be more difficult to ignore a signal that Kim Jong-il will give to the international community with the aid of Dmitry Medvedev.”

“If Russia supports the initiative [on resuming the six-party talks] and guarantees that North Koreans seek to discuss this problem, it will be more difficult for Seoul and Washington to scuttle the dialogue,” the Russian expert said.

Economic projects, such as the construction of a gas pipeline between Russia and South Korea via the DPRK, the linking up of the Trans-Korean railway with the Trans-Siberian mainline and the construction of a power transmission line from the Far East to the Republic of Korea, can be very significant in relations between the two countries. “This issue is being actively finalised. Gazprom’ s project has been approved by North Korea. Pyongyang is also ready to take part in the project jointly with South Koreans despite difficult relations. Now Gazprom intends to inform Seoul about this. South Koreans agree in word although they voice concerns over North Korea’s possible dependence, including illegal gas extraction and blackmail,” he said.

At the same time, he said, “The pipeline will guarantee the restoration and strengthening of trust between the North and the South. The economic development of North Korea will become one more argument for stopping the nuclear programme.”

Kim Jong Il meets with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on 24 August 2011 outside of Ulan Ude in Siberia (Photo: Kremlin)

Kim Jong Il and Dmitry Medvedev sit for a media availability on 24 August 2011 (Photo: Kremlin)

The meeting’s agenda also included a bit of old business, including the DPRK’s formal recognition of the Russian Federation succeeding the Soviet Union and the DPRK’s repayment of foreign debts to the former USSR.  RIA Novosti reports:

Medvedev and Kim met in Ulan-Ude, in East Siberia’s Buryatia Region earlier in the day.

“The leaders agreed on an approach toward solving this issue,” the source said.

Renewed talks on the issue had been going on for around six weeks, the source added.

“The Russian delegation thinks that the fact that these talks have been renewed is a significant breakthrough toward solving this issue.”

The talks involve North Korea’s $11 billion debt to Russia from the Soviet era, Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak said on Wednesday.

He also said that North Korea should first recognize Russia as a successor state of the Soviet Union. Then the two states need to recalculate the sum of the loan, which was issued in Soviet rubles at the exchange rate of 0.6 rubles per $1.

Only then the two countries may launch negotiations “on how to repay the resulting sum.”

Moscow sees the loan as one of the factors that hinder trade and economic cooperation between the two states.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev talks with Kim Jong Il during a photo op on 24 August (Photo: Xinhua)

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (L) and Kim Jong Il (R) on 24 August 2011 in Ulan Ude in Siberia (Photo: Xinhua)

KJI Arrives in Ulan Ude

North Korean and Russian flags are hung at Ulan-Ude Station in Ulan-Ude in eastern Siberia on the occassion of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's visit on Aug. 23. (Yonhap)

Kim Jong Il arrived in Ulan Ude on 23 August (Tuesday), greeted at the railway station by various local officials.  KJI is expected to meet with Russian Federation President Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday (24 August).  On Tuesday, KJI indulged in one of his favorite past times, swimming, on this occasion in a pool of water pumped from Lake Baikal.  KJI took a dip with a local elected official, then cruised the lake and enjoyed a dinner of regional dishes.  Later in the day he toured Ulan Ude’s aircraft factory.  Radio Netherlands reports:

Kim’s armoured train earlier pulled into the traditionally Buddhist city of Ulan-Ude where he is expected to hold talks with Medvedev on Wednesday in an apparent bid to win Russian aid for his isolated state amid food shortages.

Russian officials have pulled out all the stops for the high-profile visit which has seen Kim ease his way across Siberia along the famed Trans-Siberian railway from the Pacific since crossing the border into Russia at the weekend.

Amid unprecedented security involving dozens of guards and North Korean snipers, the reclusive Kim was taken to the small village of Turka on the picturesque shores of Lake Baikal, a regional official told AFP.

There he took a swim in the pool filled with Lake Baikal water which locals believe has medicinal powers and gives bathers vital energy and health, he told AFP. “It is considered sacred,” said the official, who asked not to be named.

Kim was also given a boat ride across the lake and was offered local delicacies like the endemic omul fish and traditional Buryat dish of meat dumplings known as buuza.

World famous for its dramatic beauty, Lake Baikal contains around a fifth of the world’s fresh water and is home to a variety of endemic species.

Kim also visited the Soviet-era Ulan-Ude aviation plant making assault jets and helicopters. “It was a good day,” said another local official involved with the visit, noting the straight-faced Kim sported his trademark sunglasses.

In an apparent nod to Kim’s concerns about personal safety, the Kremlin imposed a virtual blanket ban on information about Kim’s plans and itinerary.

Kim is set to meet Medvedev for a rare summit in the eastern Siberian city 5,550 kilometres (3,450 miles) east of Moscow on Wednesday, with the talks expected to focus on Pyongyang’s nuclear programme, energy and food shortages in the isolated state.

Back in the DPRK, the country welcomed a Russian military delegation, among other visitors. KCNA reported on on 22 August of the arrival (among others) of “a delegation of the Eastern Military District of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation headed by Commander of the district Konstantin Sidenko.”  Kyodo News, citing ITAR-TASS, reports:

Itar-Tass said a Russian military delegation headed Adm. Konstantin Sidenko, commander of troops of the Eastern Military District, arrived in North Korea earlier in the day for a five-day visit.

Citing the Russian Defense Ministry, the report said, ”The agenda of the visit envisages meetings with the top officers of the Korean People’s Army in order to have consultations seeking to resume and develop military and naval cooperation.” It said the visit is also intended ”to negotiate probable dates and the scenario of Russian-North Korean humanitarian exercises and to exchange courtesy visits of Russian and North Korean warships.”

The two sides ”will discuss prospects for cooperation between the ground troops of the countries, probable joint exercises and trainings for the search and rescue of ships in distress and the aid to people in natural disasters.”

For a glimpse of Kim Jong Il, spots and all, one might wish to rely on images taken and released by non-DPRK media sources.  Chosun Ilbo reports that DPRK media has edited KJI’s liver spots and other blemishes from photos it releases.  It seems that the DPRK has imported the practice of the airbrushed celebrity.

The most conspicuous picture was shown on CCTV and features Kim in Yangzhou in the Chinese province of Jiangsu on May 23. But in a photo released on May 28 by the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency, which it claimed shows Kim inspecting Huichon Power Station, he has no liver spots on his face. Another image shows him inspecting a fish farm on June 2, again without liver spots.

But in a photo taken by a Xinhua news agency cameraman, which shows Kim meeting with Chinese official Li Yuanchao in Pyongyang on June 13, he has liver spots again.

On his July 6 visit to Sinam Cooperative Farm in North Pyongan Province, the KCNA seems to have photoshopped his skin clean again.

But in a picture released by Chinese media on July 12, he has dark spots on his face again.

KJI-Medvedev to Meet Wednesday?

According to ROK and Russian media reports, Kim Jong Il is expected to visit Skovorodino en route to his meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Ulan Ude. The red line indicates his rail route. (Photo: Google image)

Russian and ROK media said that Kim Jong Il and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will meet on Wednesday (24 August) in Ulan Ude.  The DPRK-Russian leadership meeting was originally believed to take place on Tuesday (23 August), but may have been delayed by a day.  On his way to Ulan Ude KJI will reportedly visit Skovorodino.  Yonhap reports:

On Monday, the third day of his Russian trip, an armored train believed to carry Kim was heading to the eastern Siberian city of Ulan-Ude, where the two leaders are expected to meet. On Sunday, Kim paid a visit to the Bureiskaya hydroelectric plant in the Amur region.

Ulan-Ude, near Lake Baikal, is about 3,000 kilometers away from Bureiskaya.

“On his way to Ulan-Ude, Kim is likely to stop off at the city of Skovorodino,” the intelligence official said on the condition of anonymity. “If so, the North Korea-Russia summit, originally scheduled for Aug. 23, will be delayed by one day.”

Skovorodino is the starting point for an oil pipeline between eastern Siberia and China. Russia and China completed a 1,000-km oil pipeline linking Skovorodino to Daqing in the northeastern Chinese province of Heilongjiang last year.

In Seoul, a senior government official also said, “There is a possibility that Kim will arrive in Ulan-Ude on Aug. 23 and hold the summit on Aug. 24 after spending a night.”

Newspapers in Russia carried similar reports, citing their diplomatic sources.

The Izvestiya newspaper reported the Kim-Medvedev talks would be held on Wednesday and the venue for the summit would be a state guesthouse in Ulan-Ude, not a military compound.

Tight security measures were in force ahead of his arrival at the city’s railway station and near the state guesthouse, the Russian daily reported.

For years, Russia has proposed building a pipeline through the divided Korean Peninsula to sell Siberian natural gas to South Korea, one of the world’s largest buyers of natural gas.

If realized, the project could help ease tensions on the peninsula and bring much-needed hard currency to North Korea. North Korea can expect to earn more than US$500 million a year in handling charges over the gas pipeline, according to South Korean analysts.

South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan said this month that North Korea reacted “positively” to the natural-gas pipeline construction project. The North’s reaction was conveyed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to Kim during their bilateral talks on Aug. 8.

Moscow has also floated the idea of connecting its Trans-Siberian Railway with South Korea via North Korea, a proposal that would provide cheaper shipping routes for South Korean companies selling goods to Europe.

Kim Jong Il's arrives on 21 August at an Amur Oblast railway station in Russia's Far East (Photo: Port Amur/Amur information agency)

DPRK media reported KJI’s visit to Amur and his tour of the Bureiskaya (Bureya) power plant on Sunday and Monday (22 August).  In its report KCNA referred to his “next destination,” but not did disclose where or what that was.

After being briefed on the history of the plant, he acquainted himself in detail with the construction and electricity production, going round the generating room and other places.

Commanding a bird’s-eye view of the giant plant from the observation deck, he said it is a great structure to go down in the history of Russia.

Highly praising the brave and talented Russian people for having built the modern large-scale hydro-electric plant by harnessing nature for dozens of years, he expressed expectation that the workers of the plant would keep the electricity production going at a high rate and contribute to the economic development in the Far East Region and its people’s wellbeing.

He wrote in the visitor’s book: “Inexhaustible is the strength of the Russian people who occupied Bureya nature. Kim Jong Il. August 21, 2011.”

The director of the plant presented him with a gift which was prepared with sincerity carrying boundless respect and reverence of all its employees for him.

The governor of the region gave a luncheon in honor of Kim Jong Il on a visit to the region.

Warmly welcoming Kim Jong Il visiting the Far East Region for the strengthening and development of the Russia-DPRK friendship on behalf of the Regional Government and people, the governor expre ssed the pleasure to receive in their region the leader in good health and full of energy.

The luncheon proceeded in an amicable atmosphere overflowing with friendship. An art performance prepared by the artistes of the region was given in welcome of him.

He was presented with a gift by the governor on behalf of the officials and people of the region in token of his historic visit to the region.

He left for his next destination amid the warm send-off by senior officials of the region.

Meanwhile, back on the peninsula, the DPRK announced that it will continue with the disposal of assets at Ku’mgang resort.  KBS World reports:

North Korea says that it will dispose under its law all assets of South Korean companies at the North’s Mount Geumgang resort.

North Korea revealed its stance in a statement issued by a spokesman from the resort’s guidance bureau on Monday. According to the North’s official Korea Central News Agency, the statement said the North will take legal steps to dispose all South Korean property, including real estate, equipment and vehicles, at Mount Geumgang. It added that the South Korean government has completely abandoned the protection of assets of South Korean companies in the resort.

The news agency also reported that North Korea has banned South Korean companies from taking any goods and assets out of the Mount Geumgang resort from midnight on Sunday, and further demanded that South Korean personnel leave Mount Geumgang within 72 hours.

Previously, North Korea demanded South Korean firms on July 29th to make a decision on the disposal of their assets at the mountain resort within three weeks in accordance with its special law on the Geumgang tourist district.

An official notice reading "Freeze" in Korean is stuck to a South Korean-owned building at the Mount Kumgang resort, one of several assets that North Korea froze last year. (Yonhap file photo)

KJI Visits Hydroelectric Power Plant in Russian Far East

Kim Jong Il is greeted at an Amur railway station on 21 August with bread (Photo: Port Amur/Amur information agency)

Kim Jong Il (Kim Cho’ng-il) continued his visit Sunday (21 August) to Russia’s Far East with a visit to Amur Oblast, which included a tour of the Bureiskaya hydroelectric power plant.  There was a small reception and send-off at the local train station.  According to Amur news agency, during his visit to the power plant, he toured the machine room and then watched the water discharge.  He departed the city in the late afternoon, as he wends his way to Ulan Ude where his meeting with Russian President Dmitry Anatoliyevich Medvedev is expected to occur.  RT reports:

North Korean leader has been greeted with Russian traditional bread and salt in Russia’s Far Eastern Amur Region as he came off his armored train. Kim Jong Il’s security was guarded heavily by dozens of police.

People living nearby were advised to veil their windows and photo and video shooting were prohibited, local news agency Amur.info reported.

The North Korean leader stepped out onto a red carpet and was then swept off in his very own Mercedes-Benz, which had travelled with him on the same armored train.

The motorcade headed for the local Bureiskaya hydropower plant where he spent just five minutes.

Kim Jong Il is now proceeding on his train to Ulan-Ude, the capital of the Republic of Buryatia, where he is due to meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

Kim Jong Il tours the Bureiskaya Hydroelectric Power Plant in Amur Oblast on 21 August 2011 (Photo: Port Amur/Amur information agency)

Kim Jong Il signs a guestbook during his visit to a hydroelectric power plant in Amur Oblast on 21 August 2011. Arrow indicates an individual believed to be his wife, Kim Ok (Photo: Port Amur/Amur information agency)

KJI crossed the DPRK-Russian border on Saturday (20 August) where he met briefly with local officials at Khasan Railway Station.  Xinhua’s Mu Xuequan reports:

According to the KCNA, the unofficial visit by Kim Jong Il to Siberia and the Far East Region of the Russian Federation at the invitation of Dmitri Anatoliyevich Medvedev, president of the Russian Federation, is another event in “achieving world peace and security and the human cause of independence” and will mark a historic occasion in “boosting the DPRK-Russia friendship given steady continuity generation after generation and putting strong impetus to the drive of all the servicepersons and people to build a thriving socialist nation”. Kim was greeted at Khasan Railway Station by Viktor Ishayev, presidential envoy to the Far East Region of the Russian Federation, Sergey Darikin, governor of Maritime Territory, and other senior Russian officials at the railway station. The officials warmly welcomed Kim, saying President Medvedev who paid deep attention to the Russia-DPRK friendship dispatched them to greet him and the current visit of Kim to Russia will mark a historic occasion in putting the Russia-DPRK friendly and cooperative relations onto a fresher and higher stage, said the report. Kim said that he was very pleased to see the achievements made by the Russian people and appreciated the greeting of the senior officials of Russia, the report added.

Seen in attendance, standing behind Kim Jong Il, are members of the DPRK leadership including Tae Jong Su, Jang Song Taek, Pak To Chun and Kim Yong Chun (Photo: Port Amur/Amur information agency)

KCNA reported about KJI’s first day in Russia, as well as a selected list of the members of his travel party:

He was presented with a souvenir by Sergey Darikin on behalf of the Maritime Territorial Government and people.

After a while, he left for his destination amid send-off by senior officials of Russia.

Prior to it, he left the country to pay an unofficial visit to Siberia and the Far East Region of the Russian Federation.

He is accompanied by Kim Yong Chun, member of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee and minister of the People’s Armed Forces, Kang Sok Ju, member of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee and vice-premier of the Cabinet, Jang Song Thaek, alternate member of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee and vice-chairman of the NDC, Kim Yang Gon, Pak To Chun and Thae Jong Su, alternate members of the Political Bureau and secretaries of the WPK Central Committee, Ju Kyu Chang, alternate member of the Political Bureau and department director of the WPK Central Committee, Pak Pong Ju, first vice department director of the WPK Central Committee, O Su Yong, chief secretary of the North Hamgyong Provincial Committee of the WPK, Kim Kye Gwan, first vice-minister of Foreign Affairs, Kim Yong Jae, DPRK ambassador to Russia, and Sim Kuk Ryong, consul general of the DPRK Consulate General in Nakhodka of Russia.

His visit to Russia, another event in achieving world peace and security and the human cause of independence, will mark a historic occasion in boosting the DPRK-Russia friendship given steady continuity generation after generation and putting strong impetus to the drive of all the servicepersons and people to build a thriving socialist nation.

A view of Kim Jong Il's projected rail route during his sojourn through Russia's Far East (Photo: Google image)

In images taken by a local news agency, an individual who resembles KJI’s current wife, Kim Ok, was also seen in attendance.  Kim Jong Un (Kim Cho’ng-u’n) was neither listed nor observed to have accompanied KJI.  AFP (via Channel News Asia) reports:

Korean Central News Agency confirmed on Sunday Kim’s “unofficial visit to Siberia and the Far East” region at the invitation of Russian leader Dmitri Medvedev, calling it a “historic occasion”.

A large group of government and military officials were accompanying Kim including defence minister Kim Yong-Chun, vice premier Kang Sok-Ju and Jang Song-Thaek, the leader’s brother-in-law and vice head of the powerful National Defence Commission, KCNA said.

But Jong-Un, the leader’s youngest son and heir apparent, was not listed in the official entourage.

The young protege, believed to be in his late 20s, was made a general and given senior posts in the ruling communist party last September.

The leader, who suffered a stroke in August 2008, has been grooming his Swiss-educated son as eventual successor in an attempt to extend the family dynasty into a third generation.

Kim Jong-Il took over in the late 1990s from his father and founding president Kim Il-Sung, who built the dynasty that has ruled the impoverished country with an iron first for more than six decades.

Jong-Un, known to be expanding his role in policy-making, has not yet been spotted accompanying his father to diplomatic trips overseas including the leader’s surprise visit to China in May.

The visit to Russia comes at a sensitive time for the two countries. Russia is heading into crucial presidential polls in 2012, in which the big unknown is whether Medvedev or former president and current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will run.

Kim Jong Il enters his personal armored train, prior to departing Amur on 21 August 2011 (Photo: Port Amur/Amur information agency)

KJI Arrives in Siberia

A railway station in Khasan, near the DPRK-Russia border (Photo: Google image)

Kim Jong Il (Kim Cho’ng-il) arrived in Khasan, in Russia’s Far East on Saturday (20 August), his first trip to Russia since 2002.  In an unusual move, KCNA reported KJI’s trip just prior to his departure from the DPRK, although it did not state whether this visit is “unofficial:

 

Chairman Kim Jong Il of the National Defence Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea will pay an unofficial visit to Siberia and Far Eastern region of the Russian Federation at the invitation of Dmitri Anatoliyevich Medvedev, president of the Russian Federation.

During the visit the top leaders of the two countries will have a meeting.

Kim Jong Il visiting Russia's Far East in 2002 (Photo: KCNA)

During what is said to be a week-long trip, KJI (once known as Yura) is expected to travel to Ussuriysk and then Ulan Ude where Izvestia reports he will meet with Medvedev.  Yonhap, via Korea Times, reports:

Kim visited the Russian Far East in 2002 after making a 24-day trip to Moscow and other Russian cities in July 2001.

The reclusive leader traveled to China in May for the third visit to his country’s closest ally in just over a year.

Kim is expected to visit a dam in Ussuriysk, 112 kilometers north of Vladivostok, after leaving Khasan, according to other sources well informed on relations between North Korea and Russia.

If Kim visits the Russian dam facilities, the two countries are then expected to open discussions on enhancing bilateral cooperation in energy.

Earlier in the day, an informed source in Moscow said Kim will hold summit talks with Medvedev in Ulan-Ude, the third-largest city in eastern Siberia, on Tuesday.

In this regard, a Russian Far Eastern news agency reported that the North Korean leader is expected to directly head to Ulan-Ude, located near Lake Baikal, to meet with Medvedev without stopping in other Russian cities.

There have been increasing DPRK-Russian interactions in recent weeks.  On 26 July, the Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries hosted a “friendship meeting” which commemorated KJI’s 2001 trip to the Federation and “the adoption of the DPRK-Russia Moscow Declaration.”  On 28 July, in a commemoration of the same event, an exhibition was opened at the Pyongyang Center for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries.  At the same time, two documentary films about KJI’s Russian trips were screened at Taedongmun Cinema in Pyongyang.  On 14 August DPRK media reported that KJI received a telegram from Medvedev on the occasion of the Korean Peninsula’s liberation that said, “History has proved the solidity of friendship between the people of our two countries.  We are willing to expand cooperation with the DPRK in all directions of mutual interest, including a trilateral plan among Russia, the DPRK and the ROK in the fields of gasification, energy, and railway construction.”

This does not account for the various food aid commitments made by Russia in recent weeks.  During May 2011, Kim Jong Il received former Russian Premier and current SVR chief, Mikhail Fradkov, and a small delegation during a brief stop in the DPRK.  From June through July, Kim Kyong Hui (Kim Kyo’ng-hu’i) visited Russia.  At the end of June the DPRK’s ambassador in Moscow, Kim Yong Jae (Kim Yo’ng-ch’ae) met with Gazprom Chairman Alexei Miller, and this interaction was followed up in July by Gazprom executives visiting the DPRK where they met with Cabinet officials, including Vice Premier and foreign policy boss Kang Sok Ju (Kang So’k-chu).

RT reports about KJI’s upcoming interactions with Russian officials:

The agenda for the meeting between the two heads of state is expected to include issues tied to further energy co-operation between the two countries, the protracted negotiations on denuclearization, and tensions between South and North Korea.

Another major issue on the table for discussion are plans to build a gas pipeline from Russia’s Far East through North Korea to South Korea, believes Georgy Toloraya, Director of Korean Studies in Russian Academy of Science.

The Russian gas giant, Gazprom, is already in talks with North Korean officials about the plans. However, in a trip to Moscow earlier this month, South Korea’s foreign minister said his country would only support the project if there were guarantees that the North would honor its obligations and not use the pipe to put pressure on the South.

Toloraya believes Kim Jong Il could give such guarantees during the meeting with President Medvedev. “On the one hand, such a project would increase trust and stability between two Koreas. On the other hand, it would help North Korea to be more self- sufficient in energy and so [make its behaviour] more predictable,” Toloraya added.

He also believes transit gas from Russia would “diminish [North Korea’s] need for nuclear power production even for peaceful purposes, so it could be another argument for full denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

Kang Sok Ju Meets Gazprom Delegation

Kang So'k-chu (C) meets with a Gazprom delegation in Pyongyang, 6 July 2011 (Photo: KCNA)

Kang So’k-chu (Kang Sok Ju), DPRK Vice Premier met with the Gazprom delegation on 6 July (Wednesday) at Mansuade Assembly Hall.  On 5 July [Tuesday], the delegation met with the country’s Minister of Oil Industry at the same venue.  KCNA reports:

Present at the talks from the DPRK side were Minister of Oil Industry Kim Hui Yong, officials concerned and from the Russian side members of the delegation of Gazprom of Russia headed by its Deputy Managing Chairman Alexandr Ananenkov.

At the talks both sides discussed cooperation in oil and gas and a series of other issues of bilateral concern.

The delegation also visited the Taesong Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery where they presented flowers at the monument to Kim Cho’ng-suk (Kim Jong Suk), mother of KJI and Kim Kyo’ng-hu’i and technically a veteran of the Soviet Army.  KCNA reports:

The members of the delegation observed a moment’s silence in memory of the revolutionary martyrs who dedicated their precious lives to the liberation and prosperity of the country and the accomplishment of the revolutionary cause of juche.

They also laid bouquets before the bust of Kim Jong Suk, an anti-Japanese war hero.

On the same day, the delegation placed a wreath and bouquets before the Liberation Tower.

It paid a silent tribute to the Soviet Army soldiers who fell in the battles to liberate Korea.