Kim is expected to visit the Far Eastern Federal University and marine biology laboratories at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Vladivostok.
Colleges in Russia’s Far East have historically accepted North Korean students.
“TROUBLING” COOPERATION
Kim is visiting Russia as Putin seeks to bolster alliances with other world leaders ostracised by Western countries.
The longtime allies are both under a raft of international sanctions, Moscow for the Ukraine conflict and Pyongyang for its nuclear tests.
Kim and Putin’s gifting each other rifles at the spaceport summit on Wednesday further fuelled speculation that an arms export deal could be on the table, despite Western warnings.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday however, that no agreements had been signed during Kim’s ongoing trip, and “there was no plan to sign any”.
While meeting Kim, Putin accepted an invitation to visit North Korea, according to the Kremlin, and he reportedly offered to send a North Korean to space, which would be a first.
Moscow also mentioned the possibility of helping North Korea to manufacture satellites, a prospect that has alarmed Washington.
The cooperation announced during Kim’s Russia is “quite troubling and would potentially be in violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions”, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reports following the leaders’ summit.
North Korean satellites, he noted, have been used to develop Pyongyang’s ballistic missiles.
Pyongyang recently failed twice in its bid to put a military spy satellite into orbit.
Source: CNA
