SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin will arrive in North Korea on Tuesday for a two-day visit, his first in 24 years…
Russian President Vladimir Putin will arrive in North Korea on Tuesday for a two-day visit, his first in 24 years, both countries announced.
Putin is expected to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for talks focused on expanding military cooperation as they deepen their alignment in the face of separate, intensifying confrontations with Washington.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said Putin will pay a state visit on Tuesday and Wednesday at Kim’s invitation. North Korean state media didn’t immediately provide details. Russia confirmed the visit in a simultaneous announcement.
The visit comes amid growing international concerns about an arms arrangement in which Pyongyang provides Moscow with badly needed munitions to fuel Putin’s war in Ukraine in exchange for economic assistance and technology transfers that would enhance the threat posed by Kim’s nuclear weapons and missile program.
Military, economic and other cooperation between North Korea and Russia have sharply increased since Kim visited the Russian Far East in September for a meeting with Putin, their first since 2019.
U.S. and South Korean officials have accused the North of providing Russia with artillery, missiles and other military equipment to help prolong its fighting in Ukraine, possibly in return for key military technologies and aid.
