The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, will visit Russia in the coming days at the invitation of Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin has confirmed, amid concerns in the west that Pyongyang plans to provide weapons to Moscow to use in the war against Ukraine.
An armoured train carrying Kim was reported by South Korean media to have departed Pyongyang for Russia via North Korea’s north-eastern border, with a meeting expected to be held in the Russian port city of Vladivostok, where Putin has already arrived, as early as Tuesday.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Putin would host a state lunch for Kim and the two would meet “one on one if necessary.” He said the two would discuss bilateral relations, adding: “We seek to build good, mutually beneficial relations with North Korea.”
North Korean state news agency KCNA said the two leaders would “meet and have a talk”, without elaborating.
The trip marks Kim’s first visit abroad in more than four years and the first since the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We do expect some type of meeting (and) based on the information we’ve been provided, KJU is travelling to Russia,” Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder told reporters.
The White House said last week it had intelligence that showed Russia was looking to purchase additional artillery shells from North Korea to shore up its defence industrial base.
US officials also said the two countries were arranging a meeting between their leaders that would take place this month. The US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told reporters that North Korea “will pay a price” for supplying Russia with weapons to use in Ukraine.
North Korea has previously been accused by the US of selling artillery shells to the Russian mercenary group Wagner.
The US, Britain, South Korea and Japan have said any arms deal between North Korea and Russia would violate UN security council resolutions.
The meeting between the two leaders could take place at the Eastern Economic Forum, an annual conference scheduled to run until 13 September on the campus of the Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok.
The Kremlin said on Monday that Putin had arrived in Vladivostok for a two-day visit to the forum.
Kim and Putin, who first met in 2019, are seeking greater military and economic cooperation to counter their growing international isolation prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and North Korea’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programmes.
In July, Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, travelled to Pyongyang, where he toured a defence exhibition that featured the country’s banned ballistic missiles.
Analysts believe North Korea has an extensive supply of artillery shells, rockets and small arms ammunition that could help Russia replenish the military stocks it has expended in more than 18 months of war in Ukraine. In return, Moscow could share its advanced technology for satellites and nuclear-powered submarines.
