Photo/Illutration Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un shake hands during their meeting at the Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Tsiolkovsky, Russia, on Sept. 13, 2023. (Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Stronger ties between the leaders of two countries that threaten regional peace and stability would do nothing but deepen their isolation in the world.

What Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un should do is not to expand military cooperation between their countries and to return to respecting the norms of the international community.

Putin chose the Vostochny Cosmodrome, a spaceport in the Russian Far East that was newly built in the 2010s, as the venue for his summit with Kim. The delegations of the two countries included the Russian defense minister and senior North Korean military officials.

While details of the talks are unknown, the venue and the list of the officials who attended the summit leave no doubt that the aim is to demonstrate to the United States and other countries that the two nations are expanding and upgrading their cooperation in the space and military fields.

Russia, which continues its aggression against Ukraine, has a clear motive to rely on North Korea.

For Russia, which is suffering from a serious shortage of shells in the war against Ukraine, weapons made to the standards of the former Soviet Union possessed by North Korea that are ready for the battlefield would be greatly helpful.

On the other side, North Korea desperately needs Russian military technology to launch military reconnaissance satellites after a series of failures and build nuclear submarines, also a formidable technological challenge.

As it continues to develop nuclear weapons and missiles at the expense of people's livelihoods, Pyongyang also craves food and economic aid from Moscow.

However, buying weapons from North Korea or providing arms to the secluded regime would be a clear violation of the U.N. Security Council resolutions that have been adopted since 2006 regarding this country's ballistic missile launches and nuclear tests.

Such an action would be completely unacceptable.

Looking back, the series of resolutions against North Korea were passed with the support of Russia, a permanent member of the Security Council. Even during the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear ambitions, Russia remained opposed to Pyongyang's nuclear armament.

On Sept. 13, as the world's eyes were focused on the Putin-Kim summit, North Korea launched two ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan.

Rather than criticizing the Kim regime’s provocative action, Putin rolled out a welcome mat to the North Korean leader in a clear sign of the current predicament of Russia, which has no choice but to abandon its responsibilities as a major power and fawn over North Korea.

Moscow is grossly mistaken if it thinks that even if it turns its back on international law and U.N. resolutions, it will open a hole in the encirclement against it by winning over countries that are disenchanted with the U.S.-led international order, including emerging and developing countries.

This year’s Eastern Economic Forum, an international forum to lure foreign investment in Russia held recently in Vladivostok in the Russian Far East, was not attended by the leaders of many major countries as in the past.

Both Russia and North Korea should face up to the reality that their chauvinistic hard-line policies that prioritize the military are hindering their own development.

Although China has close ties with both countries, Beijing must not have a desire to escalate tensions by following the path of isolation together with them.

As a leading power responsible for international order and regional stability, China should step up diplomatic pressure on both Russia and North Korea through effective cooperation with Japan, the United States and South Korea.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Sept. 14

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