SEOUL, South Korea (NewsNation) — Retired Gen. Wesley Clark speculates that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s meeting in North Korea involves acquiring additional missiles.
“I’m sure the meeting is about how can Putin get more and what’s it gonna cost,” Clark said Monday on “The Hill.” “He’s (Putin) got plenty of support to give to Kim Jong Un.” Meanwhile the North Korean leader has “a lot that he can offer Putin in basic military stuff.”
In exchange, Clark believes North Korea might gain insight into “what the battlefield was like.”
“You always need more military technology,” Clark said. “Things like night vision, electronic warfare. Maybe some more moderate aircraft. Training systems, drones. Maybe giving North Korea some insight into what the battlefield was like. Maybe even (letting) soldiers from North Korea learn some lessons.”
The meeting will be Putin’s first trip to North Korea in 24 years.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said Putin will pay a state visit Tuesday and Wednesday at Kim’s invitation. North Korean state media didn’t immediately provide details. Russia confirmed the visit in a simultaneous announcement.
There are growing concerns about an arms arrangement in which Pyongyang provides Moscow with badly needed munitions to fuel Putin’s war in Ukraine in exchange for economic assistance and technology transfers that would enhance the threat posed by Kim’s nuclear weapons and missile program.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
