Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea, visited Komsomolsk-on-Amur in far-eastern Russia on September 15, 2023, to tour a plant that manufactures fighter jets, according to Russian state media.
The facility is the country’s largest aviation manufacturing plant. It builds and develops warplanes for the Russian Ministry of Defense, including the Su-35S, Su-57 fighter jet and Sukhoi Superjet 100 regional jet.
Russian state news agency RIA Novosti published video footage of Kim’s armored train pulling into the Komsomolsk-on-Amur station, where North Korean officials waited on a specially built ramp and red carpet.
During the visit, Kim also witnessed a test flight by a Su-35, according to Mikhail Degtyarev, regional governor of Komsomolsk-on-Amur.
“Our fathers and grandfathers fought together against Japanese militarism, our country supported North Korea in its fight against the United States’ imperialist ambitions in the 1950s, and today we jointly stand up to the pressure of the collective West,” Degtyarev wrote in the Telegram post.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told Russian state television that Kim will later visit Vladivostok to see Russia’s Pacific fleet, a university and other facilities.
At the invitation of Putin, the North Korean leader arrived in Russia aboard his train on September 12, 2023. Since then, he has visited weapon and technology sites, underscoring deepening ties between the nations locked in separate confrontations with the West.
Foreign governments and experts believe Kim will most likely supply Russia with ammunition for its war in Ukraine, in exchange for advanced technology from Russia.