Kim and Putin need each other

At first glance, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un looked like they were auditioning for a remake of the classic movie The Odd Couple.

But the meeting of the Russian president and North Korean leader this week was anything but odd in terms of the way they view the world and the way they are looking to the future.

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Both countries have attained – in the West, at least – pariah status… Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine last year and North Korea because the Kim dynasty has kept the country a few steps up from feudalism since the 1950s.

Yet, they need each other and not only to send a message to the West that there are increasingly “other games in town” regarding global relations. Putin looks like he wants ammunition to replenish stocks running low because of the Ukraine war.

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At the same time, Kim, eager to pursue both nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, is keen on getting his country’s hands-on Russian technology in those areas.

The meeting, though, is important because it underlines the fact that the world is moving away from a “uni-polar” order dictated to the West and towards one where other players are growing in power and influence.

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