President Putin goes to North Korea
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 18 June 2024
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Mr Putin is expected to arrive in the capital to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un – but what do both countries want? Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised North Korea for "firmly supporting" Moscow's war in Ukraine. This is his first visit to Pyongyang in 24 years.
In eight days, the US journalist Evan Gershkovich will stand trial on espionage charges in Russia. The Wall Street Journal reporter has been accused of collecting information for the CIA. We’ll hear from his editor, Emma Tucker.
Also in the programme, a new report says next month's Paris Olympics could be the hottest games ever. We'll hear from India's top triathlete, Pragnya Mohan, who's already had to relocate her training away from her home country's heat.
(Photo: Russian and North Korean leaders at a meeting in September in the Russian city of Vladivostok Credits: REUTERS)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to News Hour. It's live from the BBC World Service studios in |
| 0:08.0 | central London. I'm Tim Franks and we're leading the program with a story |
| 0:12.0 | with a slightly unusual backstory. State visits |
| 0:16.2 | when a foreign leader visits another country with all possible pump, well they've been going on for |
| 0:21.2 | centuries and normally even these days with a very long |
| 0:24.5 | run-up that's in everyone's diaries for a long time but it was only yesterday that |
| 0:30.0 | Vladimir Putin's state visit to North Korea was confirmed. There had been |
| 0:34.9 | signals the Russian president speaking warmly on Monday about Pyongyang, its firm |
| 0:39.6 | support as he put it for his war effort in Ukraine and how in return Russia will |
| 0:44.0 | invariably support North Korea but even today the travel arrangements have all been |
| 0:48.6 | rather opaque even as Mr Putin travelled to the far east of Russia. |
| 0:55.0 | So what behind the shroud can we read into this visit? |
| 1:01.0 | He hasn't arrived yet as far as we're aware. What it means for security on the Korean |
| 1:05.2 | peninsula for the Russian war in Ukraine and for the balance of power in the world. That's something |
| 1:10.9 | we'll try to unpick. First, a few voices from the South Korean capital Seoul, |
| 1:16.0 | where these residents talk to their concerns about the growing ties between Moscow and Pyongyang. |
| 1:21.0 | The military power gap between North and South Korea is |
| 1:26.0 | becoming wider. In such a situation it seems that North Korea are using Russia |
| 1:30.6 | as support to further express what they want to do. So I think the fact that |
| 1:35.3 | Russia and North Korea are missing together and forming a cooperative relationship may act |
| 1:39.7 | as a negative factor for South Korea. |
| 1:45.0 | Russia is currently at war with Ukraine. |
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