Published: 21 Mar. 2025, 13:42
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, left, shakes hands with Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia's Security Council, in Pyongyang on Sept. 13, 2024, in this photo carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency the following day. [YONHAP]
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, left, shakes hands with Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia's Security Council, in Pyongyang on Sept. 13, 2024, in this photo carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency the following day. [YONHAP]
Russia's Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu arrived in North Korea Friday and will meet with leader Kim Jong-un, Russia's news agency Tass reported.
After his arrival in Pyongyang, Shoigu is scheduled to meet with Kim and other North Korean officials, the report said.
The visit marks the latest in a recent series of high-level exchanges between North Korea and Russia, which have grown closer, with Pyongyang deploying thousands of troops to support Moscow in its war against Ukraine.
Earlier this month, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko traveled to Pyongyang, where he met with North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui and discussed arranging "political contacts at the high and top levels," as previously reported by Tass.
Appearing on Yonhap News TV in November, South Korea's National Security Adviser Shin Won-sik said the possibility of Kim visiting Russia cannot be ruled out, speculating that if the visit takes place, it could be reciprocation for Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to North Korea in June last year. At that time, Putin invited Kim to Moscow for summit talks.
The latest visit also comes amid potential shifts in the Russia-Ukraine war, with U.S. President Donald Trump and Putin agreeing over the phone earlier this week on a temporary halt to strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
Yonhap