MOSCOW (Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will visit Russia in the coming days at the invitation of President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said on Monday.
Earlier, South Korean media, citing unnamed government sources, reported that Kim appeared to have left aboard a special train bound for Russia and a summit with Putin.
“At the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Chairman of State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Kim Jong Un, will pay an official visit to the Russian Federation in the coming days,” the Kremlin said.
Putin arrived on Monday in the Russian far eastern city of Vladivostok to attend the Eastern Economic Forum.
The United States has expressed concern that North Korea will provide weapons to Russia.
North Korea is one of the few countries to have openly supported Russia since the invasion of Ukraine last year, and Putin pledged last week to “expand bilateral ties in all respects in a planned way by pooling efforts”.
Kim’s last trip abroad in 2019 was also to Vladivostok for his first summit with Putin after the collapse of North Korea’s nuclear disarmament talks with former U.S. President Donald Trump.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Gareth Jones)
