Putin calls for closer ties with N Korea

MOSCOW, Sept 09 (AFP/AP): Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Saturday on the 75 anniversary of the country's founding and called for stronger ties "on all fronts".
"I am convinced that thanks to our joint efforts we will continue to strengthen... bilateral ties on all fronts", Putin said in a message to Kim as quoted by the Kremlin.
"This fully corresponds to the interests of our people" and helps to ensure "the security and stability on the Korean peninsula and northeast Asia," he said.
Putin noted that the Soviet Union was the first country to recognise the North Korean regime and said that "since then relations between our two countries have always been based on the principles of friendship, good neighbourliness and mutual respect".
"I sincerely wish you good health and success and I wish all North Korean citizens peace and prosperity," Putin added.
Meanwhile, North Korea invited visiting Chinese Russian artists to a paramilitary parade featuring rocket launchers pulled by trucks and tractors, state media said Saturday, in leader Kim Jong Un's latest effort to display his ties with Moscow and Beijing in the face of deepening confrontations with Washington.
The event in the capital, Pyongyang, which began Friday night to celebrate North Korea's 75th founding anniversary that fell on Saturday, came amid expectations that Kim will travel to Russia soon for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin that could focus on North Korean arm sales to refill reserves drained by the Kremlin's war on Ukraine.
While China has sent a delegation led by Vice Premier Liu Guozhong to the North Korea's anniversary celebrations, Russia sent a military song and dance group.
South Korean media speculated that the lack of Russian government officials at the festivities in Pyongyang could be related to preparations for a summit between Kim and Putin, which Washington expects within the month. According to some U.S. reports, it could happen as early as next week.
Putin is expected to attend an international forum that runs from Sunday to Wednesday in the eastern city of Vladivostok, which was also the site of his first summit with Kim in 2019 and is now seen as a possible venue for their next meeting.
South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers in a closed-door briefing Thursday that North Korea and Russia could also be arranging an unexpected "surprise" route for Kim's visit to avoid potential venues reported by the media.
North Korea has not confirmed any plans for Kim to visit Russia. "Whether or not a Putin-Kim summit soon follows, the United States is attempting to deter serious violations of international law by preemptively releasing intelligence," said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.