Written by Jay Faulconbridge and Josh Smith
MOSCOW/SEOUL (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit North Korea on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Kremlin said, a rare visit that highlights Moscow’s growing partnership with the isolated, nuclear-armed state.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un extended an invitation to Putin during a visit to far eastern Russia last September. Putin’s last visit to Pyongyang was in July 2000.
“At the invitation of the Head of State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Kim Jong Un, Vladimir Putin will pay a friendly state visit to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on June 18-19,” the Kremlin said.
The Kremlin said Putin will next visit Vietnam on June 19-20. The two visits were expected, although the dates had not been previously announced.
Russia has done its best to promote the renaissance of its relationship with North Korea since the start of the war in Ukraine, worrying the United States and its allies in Europe and Asia.
Washington says North Korea has provided Russia with weapons to help it fight in Ukraine, although Pyongyang has repeatedly denied this.
For Putin, who says Russia is locked in an existential battle with the West over Ukraine, courting Kim allows him to hurt Washington and its Asian allies.
UN observers concluded that at least one ballistic missile fired from Russia at a city in Ukraine last January was made in North Korea. Ukrainian officials say they have counted about 50 such missiles delivered by North Korea to Russia.
“The list of countries willing to receive Putin is shorter than ever, but for Kim Jong-un, this visit is considered a victory,” said Leif-Eric Isley, a professor at Ewa University in Seoul.
He added, “The summit not only strengthens North Korea’s position among countries that stand against the US-led international order, but also helps strengthen Kim’s domestic legitimacy.”
The South Korean Foreign Ministry said that South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun discussed Putin’s planned visit to the North in an emergency phone call with US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell on Friday.
The South Korean ministry said the visit should not lead to further military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow in violation of UN resolutions.
Russia says it will cooperate with North Korea and develop relations in the way it chooses, and no country will dictate what it should do, especially the United States.