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Russia, North Korea Sign Arms Deal NewsMax.com WiresMOSCOW (UPI) - Top Russian and North Korean military officials held talks in Moscow on Friday and signed a military cooperation agreement that will provide the Pyongyang regime with a range of modern weaponry, Russia's state-owned RIA Novosti news agency reported. Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov, who is charged with overseeing Russia's vast military-industrial complex and Moscow's arms exports, held talks with visiting North Korean Armed Forces Minister Kim Il-Chol, reaching agreement on the deal to modernize North Korea's armaments and defenses. According to another Russian news agency, Itar-Tass, most of North Korea's air force, which consists primarily of Soviet-made planes, is in urgent need of repairs or replacement. The military news agency AVN said North Korea is seeking to upgrade its air fleet, mainly comprising MiG-21s. Klebanov told RIA he did not expect the agreement to harm Moscow's relationship with South Korea. "Russia's main aim is successful negotiations between North and South Korea," Klebanov said. Kim, who arrived in Moscow on Thursday, is also meeting Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, and will hold talks with President Vladimir Putin as part of his visit to the Russian capital. Russian-North Korean relations, which were allowed to decay during Boris Yeltsin's decade-long rule, received a major boost last July when Putin paid a groundbreaking visit to Pyongyang. Copyright 2001 by United Press International. All rights reserved.
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