North Korea said Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing to make a visit to Pyongyang “at an early date,” as economic and military ties between the two U.S. adversaries move ever closer.
The Biden administration has watched with growing alarm as the Kremlin has reached out to the isolated regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Washington has accused the North of helping re-arm Russia’s depleted forces in Ukraine.
Russia, in turn, offers an economic lifeline and access to sophisticated military technology, as Mr. Kim’s regime has ramped up tensions with the U.S. and South Korea in recent months.
Mr. Kim made a rare foray outside North Korea last fall to meet with Mr. Putin in Russia’s Far East, and North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui on Wednesday finished a three-day visit to Moscow that included meetings with Mr. Putin and other top Russian officials.
“Comrade President Putin expressed deep thanks once again for the invitation of Comrade Kim Jong-un, President of the State Affairs, to visit Pyongyang at a convenient time and expressed his willingness to visit [North Korea] at an early date,” according to a North Korean Foreign Ministry statement put out Sunday morning by KCNA, the North’s official news agency.
The two sides jointly condemned what they called the “negative influence of the U.S. and its allied forces’ irresponsible and unjust provocative acts” on the divided Korean peninsula, and Russian officials “expressed deep thanks to [North Korea] for extending full support and solidarity to the stand of the Russian government and people on the special military operation in Ukraine,” according to the KCNA dispatch.
No date was announced for the Putin visit. Like Mr. Kim, Mr. Putin has made only a very few foreign trips since facing a slew of international sanctions tied to Russia’s invasion of its neighbor nearly two years ago.
The Russian Foreign Ministry did not confirm that a visit had been discussed, but Mr. Putin himself said he was looking forward to traveling to Pyongyang when he and Mr. Kim met last September.
In announcing the planned trip, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry dubbed Mr. Putin “the Korean people’s closest friend.”
• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.