The Kremlin has confirmed that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will be visiting Russia in the near future, in response to an invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin. This announcement comes after earlier reports from South Korean media, citing anonymous government sources, suggested that Kim had departed on a special train bound for Russia, presumably for a summit with Putin.
The Kremlin’s statement read, “At the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Chairman of State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Kim Jong Un, will pay an official visit to the Russian Federation in the coming days.”
President Putin, who had just arrived in the Russian far eastern city of Vladivostok to attend the Eastern Economic Forum, extended the invitation to Kim. This move underscores Russia’s active engagement with North Korea and its leader.
The United States has expressed concerns about the possibility of North Korea supplying weapons to Russia. North Korea has been one of the few countries openly supporting Russia since the invasion of Ukraine in the previous year. In a recent statement, Putin pledged to “expand bilateral ties in all respects in a planned way by pooling efforts.”
Kim Jong Un’s last foreign trip in 2019 took him to Vladivostok for his initial summit with Putin. This visit followed the breakdown of North Korea’s nuclear disarmament negotiations with former U.S. President Donald Trump. The upcoming summit is expected to touch upon various regional and international issues, including security concerns on the Korean Peninsula.