Kim Jong-un visited Russia in September. — © AFP
According to North Korea, Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared his willingness to visit the isolated, communist country in the foreseeable future. The North Korean state news agency KCNA reported this on Sunday. Pyongyang is ready to “greet the best friend of the Korean people with the utmost sincerity,” it said.
There has been more rapprochement between Russia and North Korea recently. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited the Russian Far East in September 2023 and met with Putin. A month later, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Pyongyang.
Last week, the latter’s North Korean counterpart, Choe Son-hui, went to Moscow. At the time, the Kremlin announced that Putin had been invited for a trip to North Korea and said it hoped for a visit “in the foreseeable future.”
After the West virtually severed ties with Moscow following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Moscow turned to internationally isolated North Korea for support. The Russians not only used artillery ammunition in the war, but also reportedly North Korean-made ballistic missiles.
The rapprochement between the neighboring countries is viewed with great suspicion abroad. There are fears that Russia is providing technical assistance to Pyongyang’s weapons programs.