SEOUL/MOSCOW: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will soon visit Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin, the two countries confirmed on Monday (Sep 11), a potentially landmark summit amid Moscow’s deepening isolation over the war in Ukraine.
Kim will visit Russia in the coming days at the invitation of Putin, the Kremlin said, while North Korean state news agency KCNA said the two would “meet and have a talk”, without elaborating.
US officials have said the pair would discuss possible arms deals to aid Russia’s war in Ukraine and provide North Korea with a much-needed economic and political lifeline.
Whether Kim made the trip for his second summit with Putin had been closely watched by governments because of recent overtures that signalled closer military cooperation between the nuclear-armed North and Russia as it wages its war in Ukraine.
Despite denials by both Pyongyang and Moscow, the United States has said talks are advancing actively for North Korea to supply arms to Russia which has expended vast stocks of weapons in more than 18 months of war in Ukraine.
The North Korean leader appeared to have left aboard a special train bound for Russia, South Korean media reported on Monday, citing unnamed senior government sources, but neither Moscow nor Pyongyang immediately confirmed an exact schedule for the visit.
North Korea is one of the few countries to have openly supported Russia since the invasion of Ukraine last year, and Putin pledged last week to “expand bilateral ties in all respects in a planned way by pooling efforts”.
Kim’s last trip abroad in 2019 was also to Vladivostok for his first summit with Putin after the collapse of North Korea’s nuclear disarmament talks with former US President Donald Trump.
South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper said Kim left Pyongyang late on Sunday and would meet Putin as early as Tuesday.
The broadcaster YTN reported the special train would take Kim to North Korea’s northeastern border with Russia and the summit was likely to be on Tuesday or Wednesday. Both reports cited unnamed senior South Korean government sources.
Source: CNA
