North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu at Knevichi airfield

Moscow [Russia], September 16 (ANI): North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Saturday met with Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu at the Knevichi airfield in Russia’s Vladivostok, TASS reported.

Kim Jong Un was greeted by the guard of honour of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, Russian state-owned news agency reported. The North Korean leader is visiting Russia at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Russian Defence Minister showed the Kinzhal missile system on the MiG-31I missile carrier to the North Korean leader at the Knevichi airfield located in the Primorye region.

The commander of long-range aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces, Lieutenant General Sergey Kobylash, reported on the flight and technical capabilities of the hypersonic aircraft missile system.

Kim Jong Un was also made familiar with modern operational-tactical aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces at the Knevichi airfield in Primorye, TASS reported.

In particular, the crew commanders of combat aircraft spoke about the capabilities of the Su-34 supersonic fighter-bomber, Su-30SM, Su-35S fighters and Su-25SM3 attack aircraft. Particular attention was paid to flight characteristics and weapon capabilities, according to TASS.

Kim Jong Un on Friday inspected the engineering centre and production shops of the Yuri Gagarin Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation Plant in Russia’s Far East. During his visit to the aviation plant, he was accompanied by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov.

KnAAZ is manufacturing advanced warplanes for the Russian Defence Ministry, including Su-35 and Su-57 fighter jets, TASS reported.

Upon his arrival at the railway station in Komsomolsk-on-Amur city on Friday, Kim Jong Un was greeted by Khabarovsk Region Governor Mikhail Degtyarev and Komsomolsk-on-Amur Mayor Alexander Zhornik. He was given a red carpet welcome.

The Russian government in a statement said, “The Chairman of State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Kim Jong-un, was shown the engineering centre and production shops of the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation Plant named after YuA Gagarin (KnAAZ named after YuA Gagarin), a branch of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), and also the site of the production centre of the parent company of the civilian division of UAC Yakovlev.”

During the visit, Kim Jong-un and Denis Manturov inspected the assembly production of fighter aircraft and the final assembly shop for the Su-35 aircraft and the fifth-generation Su-57 aviation complex, according to the Russian government statement.

The Russian government in a statement said that the production line is built on a flow principle, which allows the technological process to be ensured as efficiently as possible and the assembly time to be reduced to a minimum. The delegation inspected the technological facilities updated as a result of the modernization and technical re-equipment of the enterprise.

“The guests were shown the areas where work is being carried out within the framework of cooperation on the imported Superjet 100 (SJ-100) – fuselage compartments and wing assemblies are being manufactured at KnAAZ,” the Russian government said.

The two leaders visited the final assembly shop of the SJ-100 on the territory of another enterprise – the production centre of the parent company of the civilian division of UAC Yakovlev. The SJ-100 aircraft with Russian systems is currently being tested there and preparations are being made for airfield testing of the aircraft with Russian PD-8 engines, according to the Russian government statement.

Denis Manturov and Kim Jong Un assessed the demonstration flight of the Su-35 multirole fighter. Plant employees greeted the two leaders near the Memorial of Glory to plant workers who died in the Second World War.

On Wednesday, the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kim Jong Un said Russia will emerge victorious in the fight to “punish the evil forces”, adding that he would “always be standing with Russia”, CNN reported.

He praised Russia for having “stood up against the hegemonic forces” to defend its sovereignty and security – a veiled reference to the US and the West – and said he has expressed “the full and unconditional support to all that Russia does in response”, CNN reported.

Meanwhile, Putin has said that Russia is considering and discussing some military cooperation with North Korea, CNN reported citing Russian state news agency Russia 1. “Well, there are certain restrictions, and Russia complies with all these restrictions,” Putin told state-owned Russia 1. “But there are things that we can of course talk about, discuss, think about it. And here too there are prospects,” he added.