North Korean leader Kim Jong Un learned details of Russia's most advanced combat aircraft, the Sukhoi Su-57 Felon, during a guided tour of the aircraft factory last Friday (15).
The visit is part of Kim's trip to Russia, his first since 2019, and which has raised concerns from the international community as it has increasingly focused on weapons. Moscow and Pyongyang have had a strong rapprochement in the last 18 months due to the war in Ukraine. The Russians turned to the North Koreans to replenish their stocks of artillery ammunition.
Kim was welcomed at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation Plant, where the Su-57, Su-35, Su-30 and other civil and military aircraft are manufactured, and learned about the manufacturing and assembly processes of the planes. He inspected the cockpit of the Su-57, the first stealth fighter developed by Russia and the only one in service, and also observed the demonstration of a Su-35 Flanker-E.
Mikhail Degtyarev, regional governor, emphasized the historical links between the two countries. “Our parents and grandparents fought together against Japanese militarism, our country ed North Korea in its fight against the imperialist ambitions of the United States in the 1950s, and today we tly face pressure from the collective West.”
The trip further solidified Russian-North Korean relations, as Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov accompanied Kim during the trip. Manturov shared his opinion on the matter, highlighting the potential for cooperation between the two countries, particularly in the aviation sector. “We showed one of our main aircraft factories to the leader of North Korea,” Manturov said in an official statement from the Russian Cabinet. “We are seeing potential for cooperation in aircraft manufacturing and other industries, which is particularly important for solving our countries’ task of achieving technological sovereignty.”
