Kim Jong Un-Putin talks: What do the optics tell us?

BBC News:

They strolled side by side through the gleaming space centre – their aides behind them falling in step.

Standing over a launchpad, they stared into the pit from where rockets blast into space.

And over a banquet later that day, they drank red wine and toasted the embrace of their two pariah states.

The optics of Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin’s date in Russia’s far east have been flashy to say the least. And it isn’t over yet with the North Korean leader spending several days touring shipyards, aircraft factories and other military sites before he returns home.

There had been great anticipation in the lead-up – with global media rapt as Kim trundled for hours in his armoured train over the border.

He kept the West guessing for nearly 40 hours before reaching the Vostochny Cosmodrome – a space base in a far-flung eastern corner of Russia. Even then, it was unclear what exactly the pair would be meeting to talk about – with White House warnings last week that the North could sell arms to Russia sparking alarm.

Putin had sent ahead a welcome party to greet Kim as his train rolled onto the space base’s tracks. A red-carpeted, balustrade staircase was also erected mid-air, waiting for the train to pull in and for the North Korean leader to step out.

Putin was waiting in front of the centre when Kim drew up in his limousine. There, before flashing cameras, the two leaders shook hands – the pictures beamed out immediately by state media.

Both leaders know the power of showmanship, but the Supreme Leader of North Korea, as Kim is known, is particularly a fan of ceremony. He is third in a dynasty of supreme leaders “who have generations of mythology constructed around them”, says Sarah Son, a North Korea expert at the University of Sheffield.

“It wouldn’t do to be seen as a run-of-the-mill, limited term state leader by domestic audiences, who will be seeing this journey and parts of the meetings on television and in the newspaper.

“It’s very important for Kim to have one-to-one meetings with leaders of other countries so that all eyes are on him, making North Korea appear as a more significant global player than it actually is.

“Sanctions of course remain extremely tight and Russia’s need for arms presents an opportunity to achieve two complementary aims: income for the North Korean state and evidence that Kim is worthy of the attention of the leader of a major global power.”

About an hour before the two leaders met, Pyongyang had also fired off two ballistic missiles – the first launched without the leader at home.

“The summit defiantly linked pariah state behaviour in Europe and Asia,” says Leif-Eric Easly, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.

But beyond the spectacle and bombast, observers question whether the meeting achieved any concrete deals. Little was revealed publicly.

“As of now, it appears that there have been no substantial developments in the public domain,” says Fyodor Tertitskiy, a North Korean military researcher at Kookmin University in Seoul.

“We observed a two-fold event – a grand spectacle primarily designed for foreign audiences and undisclosed agreements behind closed doors, the significance of which remains uncertain.”