Kim Jong-il's Odyssey In Russia to Mix Arms Shopping with Tourism

North Korea's National Defense Commission chairman, Kim Jong-il, plans to sojourn in Russia for 24 days until August 18, a diplomatic source in Seoul said Friday.

"North Korea publicly announced Chairman Kim's visit to Russia and plans for an extended stay to show the world his grip on power and to openly express his desire for renewal of relations with Russia," a government official said.

According to the diplomatic source, Mr. Kim will travel directly from Khasan to Irkutsk and then visit a military electronics industrial complex, a T-80U tank production factory and a heating power show in Omsk.

He will arrive in Moscow on August 3, and will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin the following day to discuss bilateral military and economic cooperation and the political situation on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia, after which he will attend a dinner hosted by Mr. Putin.

Mr. Kim will then tour St. Petersburg and visit a high-tech research center in Novosibirsk, where much scientific research is concentrated, about August 11, the source said.

These visits are directly related to his desire to develop high-tech industries, solve his country's food shortage and modernize military equipment, analysts said.

On his return journey, Mr. Kim will reportedly tour Khabarovsk, the city where his late father Kim Il-sung fought against Japanese rule, and arrive in Khasan on August 18.

In a nine-page interview with the Russian news agency ITAR-TASS Thursday, Mr. Kim not only emphasized the possibility of mutual cooperation with Russia, but also criticized the United States for attempting to scrap the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in order to build a missile defense shield that he claimed could lead to an arms race. He then berated Washington for calling North Korean conventional weapons a threat.

But he also expressed desire to normalize relations with Washington and Tokyo. Mr. Kim said that the United States should do away with policies aimed at isolating Pyongyang, and that Japan should reflect on its controversial history and abandon antagonistic behavior.

by Oh Young-hwan