Good morning.
On his first international trip since the coronavirus pandemic, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has offered President Vladimir Putin his country’s “full and unconditional support” for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, describing it as a “sacred fight” against imperialism and the west.
Having travelled to the country on a luxury armoured train, Kim was driven in a limousine brought from Pyongyang to Vostochny Cosmodrome, a space rocket launch site 60km north of Vladivostok, where he met Putin.
“Russia has risen to a sacred fight to protect its sovereignty and security . . . against the hegemonic forces,” Kim told Putin via a translator. “We will always support the decisions of President Putin and the Russian leadership . . . and we will be together in the fight against imperialism.”
Following a visit to Pyongyang by Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu in July, the talks between the two leaders are expected to explore a possible arms deal, with Putin seeking to replenish Russia’s supplies of conventional munitions, which its forces are rapidly depleting in Ukraine. Kim is likely to request access to advanced technology for spy satellites and nuclear-powered submarines as well as food aid.
Putin said Moscow would help Pyongyang build satellites, telling reporters that the two would discuss a range of issues including weapons supplies, according to Russian state media. This year, North Korea has twice failed to launch a spy satellite into space.
“That’s why we came here,” Putin said. “The leader of the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] shows great interest in rocket engineering, they are also trying to develop space [capabilities].” Earlier on Wednesday, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles towards the Sea of Japan, according to the Japanese defence ministry.
Analysts estimate that North Korea has a large stockpile of ageing artillery equipment and rockets based on or duplicating designs from its former patron, the Soviet Union.
Here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:
Economic data: US inflation is expected to have risen last month when headline figures are released today. The UK publishes revised gross domestic product figures for July, while the EU has industrial production data for the same month. The International Energy Agency issues its monthly Oil Market Report.
Arm IPO: The SoftBank-backed UK chip designer is expected to announce the final pricing of its initial public offering, set to be the biggest in nearly two years.
European Commission: President Ursula von der Leyen delivers her 2023 EU State of the Union address at the European parliament in Strasbourg.
Join our subscriber-only webinar today (12.30-13.30 GMT+1) on China’s economic slowdown, featuring FT experts on the world’s second-largest economy. Send in your questions and register for free here.
Five more top stories
1. Exclusive: Deutsche Bank continued to sell risky foreign exchange derivatives to companies in Spain that had suffered big losses from such products. The sales were made even after an internal inquiry, started in 2019 following a whistleblower complaint, found that staff exploited flaws in the bank’s controls and broke EU rules. Read the full story.
2. EU will launch an anti-subsidy probe into Chinese electric vehicles. In an investigation that could lead to tariffs on the country’s manufacturers, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced that Brussels would launch an anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese electric vehicles that are “distorting” the EU market. The probe could constitute one of the largest trade cases launched given the scale of the market.
3. Bernard Looney has resigned as chief executive of BP after admitting he failed to disclose the extent of past personal relationships with colleagues, the company has said. Looney, 53, is to be replaced by chief financial officer Murray Auchincloss “on an interim basis”, the company said in a statement yesterday. Here are more details on his departure.
4. Cruise ship Ocean Explorer may be stranded in the Arctic for days after running aground, underscoring the environmental risks from the growing popularity of Arctic tourism. The cruise ship, which has 206 people on board, became stuck in Alpefjord off Greenland’s remote east coast on Monday and a high tide on Tuesday failed to free the vessel. The Danish military unit responsible for protecting Greenland said that if the weather remained fine they could reach the cruise ship by Friday at the earliest. Read the full story here.
5. Austria’s longest-serving spymaster has warned about Russian links to the country’s hard right Freedom party, which has been leading polls ahead of next year’s election. In an unusual public intervention, Peter Gridling, who led the Austrian intelligence service between 2008 and 2020, cautioned that the party had remained in contact with Russia since his tenure. Here’s more from his interview with the FT.
Vladimir Putin: The Soviet invasion of Hungary and Czechoslovakia was a “mistake”, Russia’s leader said yesterday, even as he glossed over his ongoing war on Ukraine.
Grain exporters struggle: Ukraine’s grain exporters are finding it hard to cover the extra cost of avoiding Russia’s naval blockade in the Black Sea.
The Big Read
The release of ChatGPT in November spurred a rush of feverish excitement over applications of artificial intelligence but also increased awareness of its dangers: the potential to spread misinformation during elections, replacing jobs and one day becoming more intelligent than and superseding humans. While regulators and companies have been loud in voicing the need to control AI, ideas on how to do so have diverged widely.
We’re also reading . . .
Tony Blair interview: The “mess” Labour will inherit if it wins next year’s UK elections cannot be fixed by taxing and spending, the former prime minister told the FT.
Elon Musk biography: Walter Isaacson’s much-hyped book is long on reporting detail but shorter on the meaning of the tech entrepreneur’s work, writes Rana Foroohar.
Electric cars: The cost of Europe’s indecision on the sector is a lesson for other industries prevaricating over difficult but critical investments, writes Helen Thomas.
Chinese aircraft carrier: China’s first domestically designed aircraft carrier marks a leap in Beijing’s aim of projecting force beyond its shores to contest US air superiority in the Pacific.
Chart of the day
Italy, Belgium and Portugal have issued about €60bn worth of bonds directly to households so far this year, up from €26bn last year. The retail push by European countries is partly designed to press high street banks into raising the interest rates they pay to depositors.
Take a break from the news
Lake Khovsgol is located in one of Mongolia’s most remote regions. With temperatures of minus 12C, it might seem like the last place you would want to visit. Not so for Tim Moore, who participated in the Mongol 100 bike race, pledging to traverse 160km of the frozen lake “by any means necessary”.
Additional contributions from Benjamin Wilhelm and David Hindley
Source: Economy - ft.com
