The recent meeting of Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un in North Korea marks a new stage not only in their alliance but in their ideological convergence. This is no mere marriage of convenience. The two leaders have become so much closer in their political and economic sympathies over the last two decades that they now qualify as a compatible couple.
In this most recent meeting, Putin’s first trip to North Korea in 24 years, the two leaders acted very much like two spurned lovers in a rebound relationship. Putin has turned his back on the West and sees his political and economic fortunes in the East. Kim is giving up on reunification with South Korea and views Russia as a more likely partner for economic and military cooperation.
During the Cold War, of course, North Korea and the Soviet Union were close allies. In the 1990s, however, no one could have predicted that the two countries would ever resurrect that Cold War romance.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia was beginning its experiment with democracy and its transition to a market economy. It was opening itself up to the world after decades of relative isolation within the Soviet sphere.
North Korea, meanwhile, was slipping backwards into economic collapse and famine. Although forced to accept humanitarian assistance, the government in Pyongyang remained very skeptical about the intentions of Western governments.
Coming out of those very different experiences, Russia and North Korea arrived at similar conclusions: The West was not to be trusted. The West, after all, provided economic advice that helped to wreck Russia and refused to offer the Kremlin anything but a junior security partnership as NATO expanded........