Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un hold first summit

By Joshua Berlinger

April 25, 2019

What we’re covering here

• Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin are holding their first-ever meeting today in the far-eastern Russian city of Vladivostok
• The summit comes two months after talks between US President Donald Trump and Kim in Hanoi ednded abruptly without an agreement

Putin “pleased” with Kim summit, and will inform US on talks

From CNN’s Nathan Hodge in Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomes North Korean leader Kim Jong Un before their talks on Thursday.AFP/Getty Images

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was “pleased” with the outcome of his summit meeting Thursday in the Russian city of Vladivostok with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying he would discuss the results with China and the United States.

“We are all pleased with the outcome of the talks — both I and my colleagues,” the Russian leader said. “Chairman Kim Jong Un is a fairly open person, leading a free discussion on all issues that were on the agenda.”

Asked if Kim would be willing to continue his contact with the US, Putin said the leader in Pyongyang would be guided by his “national interests,” but added that “we can’t resolve anything without talks” when it came to the crisis on the Korean peninsula. Putin, who travels next to Beijing, said he would discuss the summit with his Chinese counterparts.

“Of course, I will speak tomorrow in Beijing with the leadership of the People’s Republic of China, but we will also openly and frankly discuss today’s meeting with the American leadership,” he said. “There are no secrets here, Russia’s position is always open, there are no conspiracies.” Putin said Kim himself requested that his position be relayed to the US side.

“Moreover, Kim Jong Un himself asked us to inform the American side about his position, about the issues that arose for him in connection with the processes that are taking place on and around the Korean Peninsula,” the Russian president said.

Another summit, another coin

It just wouldn’t be a Kim Jong Un summit without a coin to commemorate the occasion.

Photographers at the banquet spotted cases with the medals in laid out at each table place.

The medallion commemorating Putin and Kim’s first summit says “welcome” in Russian and Korean.

Perhaps the most well-known coin was the one commemorating the Trump and Kim Singapore summit. It was  ahead of the meeting and was a resounding success, attracting over 1,000 orders in the first day.

That coin, in silver, white, red and blue, sparked controversy for referring to Kim as North Korea’s “Supreme Leader,” a title not usually used by the US.

people lined up outside the Vietnam Stamps Company from 6 a.m. — three-and-a-half hours before the shop opened — to get their hands on one of 500 limited-edition coins commemorating the second summit between Trump and Kim

Each of the coins cost 500,000 Vietnamese dong (about $22) and sold out in three hours. On the front, the coin features the flags of the US and North Korea, embossed in silver, along with a dove and the slogan “World Peace.”

What’s for dinner for Putin and Kim?

From CNN’s Darya Tarasova in Vladivostok

Putin is treating Kim to a host of classic Russian dishes for dinner, according to a copy of the menu posted by the Russian state news agency TASS.

The two will be eating:

• Crab salad
• Pelmeni (Russian dumplings) with deer
• Borscht
• Caramelized apple sorbet
• Cod fillet with dill sauce,
• Khabarovsk beef with baked eggplants
• Chocolate cake

4 hr 39 min ago

Putin-Kim meetings end after 3-plus hours

Talks between North Korean and Russian officials have ended after about three and a half hours, according to Russian state news agency TASS.

The two leaders will now attend a formal reception, followed by dinner.

5 hr 25 min ago

Is Putin’s summit Trump’s loss?

Analysis from CNN’s Zahra Ullah and Matthew Chance in Vladivostok

Some analysts believe that Putin’s meeting with Kim is something of a coup, following the collapse of the Hanoi summit and the current tenuous status of North Korea-US talks.

“Putin has been trying to get the North Korean leader to Russia for a long time,” said Andrey Kortunov of the Russian International Affairs Council.

But Robert Kelly, a professor of international relations at South Korea’s Pusan National University, thinks Kim is “shopping around for a deal — playing the various actors off each other, looking for wins and bargains along the way.”

“That we all seem to think it’s all about Trump is our own American blindness. Russia can’t give Kim much — beyond a safe place to park illicit income. The trip is more about stirring other interlocutors into renewed talks/concessions,” Kelly said.

Kim says visit to Russia an opportunity to exchange opinions

From CNN’s Jake Kwon in Seoul

Kim Jong Un called his visit to Russia “a great joy” during the two leaders’ summit Thursday, as the two sides’ delegations prepared to meet behind closed doors.

He continued:

“I would like to offer again a sincere gratitude to Mr. President for making time in his busy schedule and come thousands of miles from the capital city of Moscow to here to give us time for a great conversation.”
“We are visiting Russia this time to meet in person with President Putin and exchange our opinions. It is to exchange our mutual views on Korean Peninsula and this region’s political landscape which is a great focus of the world’s attention. It is also to work for stabilization of this regions political landscape and to deeply share opinion on issues that pertains to jointly managing the political landscape in the future. Another purpose was to exchange opinions on the issues like growing and developing our two nation’s traditional relationship into one that is more solid and constructive according to the demand of the new century.”

Analyst: Russia doesn’t have a lot of leverage on denuclearization

Philip Yun, the executive director of the anti-nuclear weapons NGO Ploughshares Fund, said he was surprised that denuclearization was high on the agenda for the Putin-Kim summit because Russia has little leverage in dealing with North Korea.

He described the summit as “long on symbolism.”

“Kim Jong Un is trying to figure out what his options are and trying to increase his leverage with the United States,” Yun told CNN.

Yun said the summit offers Putin an opportunity to insert Russia into the conversation when it comes to resolving the North Korean nuclear crisis, as Moscow risked being left on the sidelines after last year’s flurry of diplomatic activity between North Korea, South Korea, the United States and China.

Putin calls talks with Kim “thorough”

From CNN’s Alla Eshchenko

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had “thorough one-on-one talks” to kick off their summit in Vladivostok.

Speaking before the North Korean and Russian delegations, Putin said the two leaders spoke about “about the history of relations between our countries, about today and perspectives of development of our bilateral relations.

“We discussed about the situation on Korean Peninsula. We exchanged with opinions about what and how needs to be done, so that the situation would have a great perspective for improvement,” he said.

7 hr 46 min ago

Putin: Meeting will clarify “the ways we can help to settle the situation on the Korean peninsula”

Putin said he believed Kim’s visit would help “our bilateral relations and will help us to understand the ways we can help to settle the situation on the Korean peninsula, what can be done together, what Russia can do to support the positive processes that are taking their place now.”

Here’s what else Putin said:

I’m very happy to have you in Russia. Our colleagues have agreed about it a long time ago. First of all, I’d love to congratulate you with being elected on a high role — as a head of DPRK. I sent you a letter, but I’m happy to congratulate you with this now in person. I’d like to say that last year we celebrated 70 years of diplomatic ties between our countries.
I’m sure your visit to Russia will also help to develop our bilateral relations and will help us to understand the ways we can help to settle the situation on the Korean Peninsula, what can be done together, what Russia can do to support the positive processes that are taking their place now. We welcome your efforts on developing inter-Korean dialogue and your efforts on normalizing the US-North Korean relations. And of course, in terms of bilateral agenda, we need to achieve a lot to develop trade and economic ties and humanitarian ties

Kim Jong Un congratulates Putin, says meeting will be “beneficial”

Speaking to the media after meeting Vladimir Putin for the first time, Kim Jong Un said he expects to have a “beneficial meeting” with the Russian President.

Kim also thanked Putin for hosting him during a “very busy time.” Addressing the Russian leader, he continued:

I have already congratulated you through a letter in the previous year, but I would like to congratulate you on this opportunity once again for taking up the duty of leading the great Russian people in last year’s presidential election and for passionately working now.
I think it will be a meeting that will be very beneficial to constructively developing our two nation’s relations which boasts a long history and tradition of friendship into one that is more firm and whole.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met for the first time shortly after 2 p.m. in Vladivostok, Russia. Putin greeted Kim after he exited a Mercedes limousine. The two shook hands and posed for pictures as they appeared to exchange a few words.

They then entered a building at Russia’s Far Eastern Federal University, where the summit will take place.

Putin to become sixth leader to meet Kim

Vladimir Putin will be the sixth world leader to meet Kim Jong Un since he took control of North Korea in 2011. All of these meetings have happened since 2018, when Kim’s regime emerged from the shadows and began a diplomatic charm offensive.

So far, Kim has met Chinese President Xi Jinping, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, US President Donald Trump and Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong.

Kim and Trump during their summit at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island on June 12, 2018 in Singapore.Kevin Lim/The Strait Times/Handout/Getty Images

Kim Jong Un, left, and Xi Jinping, right, are seen at a banquet in this photo released by North Korean state media from the two leaders’ first meeting in March 2018.KCNA

South Korea’s Moon has met Kim three times, all in 2018 — twice at the demilitarized zone dividing the two Koreas and once in Pyongyang.

Kim shakes hands with Moon at the Military Demarcation Line that divides their countries ahead of their summit at the truce village of Panmunjom on April 27, 2018.KOREA SUMMIT PRESS POOL/AFP/Getty Images

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pose for photographs during a ceremony on Sept. 19, 2018 in Pyongyang.Pyeongyang Press Corps/Getty Images

Kim has held two summits with Trump, one in Singapore in June 2018 and another in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi in February 2019.

Trump shakes hands with Kim before a meeting at the Sofitel Legend Metropole hotel in Hanoi on February 27.Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

On both those visits he also met the leaders of the host countries.

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong welcomes Kim to the city-state ahead of the North Korean leader’s summit with Trump last year.ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP/Getty Images

Kim and Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong pose for photographs at the President Palace in Hanoi on March 1.MINH HOANG/AFP/Getty Images

10 hr 7 min ago

North Korea replaces top official dealing with South Korea

From CNN’s Sophie Jeong in Seoul

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo welcomes North Korea’s Yong Chol prior to a meeting in Washington, DC, on January 18.SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

North Korea has ousted Kim Yong Chol as the head of relations with South Korea, said a South Korean government official on Thursday.

South Korean Lawmaker Lee Hye-hoon, the chairwoman of the National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee, told local media that Kim had been removed from his position running the government’s United Front Department sometime in mid-April.

The United Front Department manages with all things South Korea, including Pyongyang’s relationship with Seoul and using propaganda to foment pro-North Korean views in the South.

It’s unclear if Kim Yong Chol’s role in talks with Washington has changed, as he still holds other important titles inside North Korea.

Kim’s train journey inside Russia took nine hours, per Russian state media

After entering Russia, it took Kim Jong Un about nine hours to get to the eastern port city of Vladivostok by train, according to Russian state-run news agency TASS.

Kim’s train likely passed through a single-track railway along the borders of the “Land of the Leopard” National Park to a station in the city of Ussuriysk, TASS reported. That 260 kilometer-journey (162 miles) was believed to last about seven hours.

From Ussuriysk, the train then linked to the Trans-Siberian Railway leading to Vladivostok. That portion of the journey is about 70 kilometers (43 miles) and expected to take two hours, according to TASS.