North Korean state media reported today that leader Kim Jong-un will visit Russia “soon” and hold a summit with President Vladimir Putin.
“Kim Jong-un will meet and hold talks with Comrade Putin during the visit,” the state news agency KCNA briefly reported without specifying further details about the meeting, which according to the New York Times Last week it would have, among other objectives, to agree on a potential supply of North Korean ammunition that Moscow could use in Ukraine.
KCNA’s announcement comes shortly after South Korean intelligence indicated that Kim’s armored train had left Pyongyang in the direction of the border with Russia and the Kremlin confirmed that Kim will soon arrive in Russia on an official visit at the invitation of Putin.
Putin traveled this morning to Vladivostok, the capital of the Russian Far East and the likely venue for talks with Kim.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov ruled out such meetings during the Eastern Economic Forum hosted by the Russian city, so the meeting should take place when the event ends on Wednesday.
In turn, the South Korean Yonhap agency reported that, a few hours after the departure of Kim’s train from Pyongyang was announced, a large security device has begun to be deployed at the Vladivostok railway station.
The time at which Kim could arrive in this city, which is about 700 kilometers from Pyongyang, is unknown.
The last time Kim traveled to that same city to meet with Putin, in April 2019, he also traveled on his special armored train, which took around 20 hours to reach the Russian coastal town.
If officially confirmed, this would be Kim’s first trip abroad since then, since the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic led the regime to close its borders firmly at the beginning of 2020 and only this summer the hermetic Asian country has once again allowed, under strict protocols, the entry of people from abroad.
After the failure of disarmament negotiations with the United States in 2019, North Korea has exhibited a growing rapprochement with China and Russia that appears to be strengthening even further in recent months within the framework of the growing polarization to which the war is contributing. in Ukraine.
EFE
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