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| ▲ North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (L) shakes hands with Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia's Security Council, in Pyongyang on Sept. 13, 2024, in this file photo carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency the following day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap) |
(3rd LD) Russian official-N Korea
(3rd LD) Russia's top security official arrives in N. Korea for meeting with Kim Jong-un: reports
(ATTN: UPDATES with more info in paras 1-4)
SEOUL, March 21 (Yonhap) -- Russia's Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu arrived in North Korea on Friday and was set to meet with leader Kim Jong-un, Russian and North Korean news outlets reported.
Leading a delegation from Russia's Security Council, Shoigu arrived in Pyongyang and will meet with Kim and other North Korean officials, according to Tass and the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jong-gyu, Russian Ambassador Alexandr Matsegora and other officials greeted the delegation, which visited the Liberation Tower and laid a wreath, according to the North's state media.
"The participants paid a silent tribute to the memory of the fallen fighters of the Soviet Army before looking round the tower," the KCNA 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 in the form of 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. Russia's Victory Day holiday on May 9, which commemorates the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in 1945, is widely speculated to be a potential occasion for Kim's visit to Russia as the country marks the 80th anniversary of its victory this year.
The latest visit also comes amid U.S. attempts to broker a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war, with U.S. President Donald Trump and Putin agreeing over the phone earlier this week on Russia's temporary halt to strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
During Putin's visit to Pyongyang last year, the two leaders signed a mutual defense treaty, elevating bilateral military cooperation and leading to North Korea's troop deployment to Russia.
The deal has sparked international concerns that the two countries' military alignment could lead to Russia transferring rare missile and other high-tech arms technology to North Korea in return for its troop deployment.
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