North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un promised to back Russia in its “sacred fight to protect its sovereignty and security,” suggesting that he is willing to open up his country’s vast arsenal of artillery shells and other ammunition in return for Moscow’s satellite and space technology. The pledge was made at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin after a tour of the launchpads at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East, a venue that Putin said had been chosen precisely because of Kim’s interest in space technology. Speaking through a translator, Kim declared: “Russia has risen to a sacred fight to protect its sovereignty and security. We will always support the decisions of President Putin and the Russian leadership … and we will be together in the fight against imperialism.” Hours before the meeting, North Korea launched two ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast—but Kim has repeatedly failed in his attempts to launch a military spy satellite.
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