DICTATOR KIM Jong-un has rolled out the red carpet for his “Axis of Evil” ally Vladimir Putin as the tyrants vow to forge a “New World Order”.
Putin, 71, was greeted in North Korea with an extravagant welcome ceremony as part of the Russian leader’s first visit to the rogue state in 24 years.
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Kim, 40, met Putin at 4am local time on Wednesday after he touched down in his presidential plane to kick off his two-day visit.
The pair rolled through the streets of Pyongyang in a Mercedes limo as cheering crowds waved flowers and held up giant portraits of the Russian president.
Children clutched balloons and held up North Korean flags in Kim Il Sung square for the two despots – in front of two huge pictures of Vlad and Kim pinned up on the square’s main building.
After the lavish welcome, the pair then rode to the Kumsusan Palace for talks.
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The leaders are expected to reinforce their strong relationship- and boost defence ties between the two nuke-armed countries.
During talks, Kim said “relations between our countries are entering a new era of blossoming”.
And the North Korea dictator said “the ardent friendship of the two countries will be strengthened” during Vlad’s visit.
He also expressed his “full support” for Putin’s brutal and illegal war in Ukraine.
North Korea “expresses full support and solidarity to the Russian government, army and people in carrying out a special military operation in Ukraine to protect sovereignty, security interests, as well as territorial integrity,” he said.
Both tyrants are expected to show a united front against the West during the two-day meet.
In a presidential decree issued by the Kremlin on Tuesday, Putin said Russia could sign a “comprehensive strategic partnership treaty” with North Korea.
After landing in North Korea, Putin and Kim hugged each other and were seen having a brief conversation before they got in the same car.
The two shared “pent-up inmost thoughts” on the ride to the state guest house, North Korean state media said.
At least one fighter jet – believed to be a Sukhoi Su-30 – escorted Putin’s aircraft while on his way to North Korea, the BBC reports.
He was seen emerging from his prestigious Il-96 plane in Yakutsk – the coldest city on Earth – flanked by his large security team before getting on a three-hour flight to Pyongyang.
It was also the first time the Russian president was accompanied by military aircraft inside Russian airspace.
Ahead of his visit, Putin pledged his support for North Korea in a letter published by state media.
He thanked the country for “firmly supporting” his war in Ukraine.
Putin also promised to help defend North Korea’s interests despite what he called “US pressure, blackmail and military threats”.
He also announced that the two countries would look at developing trade and payment systems away from the West.
In Pyongyang, huge banners were strewn up across the city showing off Putin’s snarling grin.
Some of the signs have been hung from lampposts with the words “We ardently welcome President Putin!” stuck across them along with Russian flags.
Putin arrived in North Korea flanked by several of his top Kremlin officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Denis Mantrurov, Defence Minister Andrei Belousov and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, according to his foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov.
Mr Ushakov also announced that a number of highly significant documents will be signed during the visit.
North Korea has responded to Putin’s generosity in recent months by agreeing to further strategic and tactical cooperation with Russia.
The two tyrant-led nations are both looking to ramp up a united front against the United States, it has been said.
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In January, Kim sent delegates to Moscow following the North Korean leader’s own trip there in September last year.
He is trying to regain his footing as he navigates a worsening nuclear stalemate with Washington, Seoul, and Tokyo.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are at their highest point in years as Kim continues to use Russia’s chilling invasion of Ukraine as a distraction to ramp up his own weapons testing.
Kim has also been active in North Korean military demonstrations.
The US and its Western allies have accused North Korea of aiding Vlad by supplying Russia with arms, including ballistic missiles, to use in Ukraine.
North Korea described the allegations as “absurd”.
Both countries are under rafts of UN sanctions – Pyongyang since 2006 over banned nuclear and ballistic missile programmes and Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine.
North Korea said Putin’s visit showed bilateral ties “are getting stronger day by day”, the Korean Central News Agency reported.
And it would “give fresh vitality to the development of the good-neighbourly cooperative relations between the two countries”, it added.
But the US has voiced “concern” about the trip due to the security implications for South Korea – as well as Ukraine.
North and South Korea have remained technically at war since their 1950-53 conflict – and the border dividing them is one of the most heavily fortified in the world.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said: “We know North Korean ballistic missiles are still being used to hit Ukrainian targets (and) there could be some reciprocity here that could affect security on the Korean peninsula.”
Highlighting the escalating security concerns, South Korea said its troops fired at soldiers from the North who briefly crossed the border on Tuesday before retreating.
The South’s military said it believed the soldiers accidentally crossed as they were fortifying the border – but said some were wounded after detonating landmines.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Putin’s trip showed how he was “dependent” on authoritarian leaders.
“Their closest friends and the biggest supporters of the Russian war effort — war of aggression — (are) North Korea, Iran and China,” he said.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged the West to counter “the lonely bromance” between Putin and Kim by increasing arms supplies to Kyiv.
Kuleba said: “The best way to respond to it is to continue strengthening the diplomatic coalition for just and lasting peace in Ukraine and delivering more Patriots and ammunition to Ukraine.”
Both leaders live eerily similar lives from awkward photo shoots to “short man syndrome”.
In February, Putin reportedly gifted Kim a £350,000 limousine as a thank-you for providing North Korean weapons to help in the war.
Putin’s elaborate gift was thought to be a violation of Moscow-backed United Nations Security Council sanctions against Pyongyang.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the decision to gift the motor was made after Kim took a liking to Putin’s Aurus Senat Limousine.
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