A top Russian security official travelled to Pyongyang for the second time this month for another meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Russian state media reported, the latest display of the countries’ deepening ties amid President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine.
Russia’s Tass news agency said Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu arrived in the North Korean capital on an unspecified “special” mission from Putin and was expected to meet with Kim.
Kim has supplied Russia with thousands of troops and large shipments of military equipment, including artillery and ballistic missiles, to support its military operation in Ukraine. Washington and Seoul have expressed concern that, in return, Kim may seek Russian technology transfers that could enhance the threat posed by his nuclear-armed military.
In April, Pyongyang and Moscow officially confirmed North Korean troops’ deployment to Russia for the first time, saying that soldiers were fighting alongside each other to repel a Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk border region.
Putin then thanked North Korea’s participation in the war and promised not to forget their sacrifices. — AP
