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North Korea's state security minister visits Russia, meeting with Shoigu expected

Published: 27 May. 2025, 10:03

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, left, shakes hands with Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Sergei Shoigu, during a meeting at the office building of the Party Central Committee in Pyongyang, North Korea on July 26, 2023. [EPA/YONHAP]

North Korea's state security minister has left for Russia to attend an international meeting of officials in charge of security affairs, the North's state media reported Tuesday, amid deepening military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow.

A delegation, led by Minister Ri Chang-dae, departed Pyongyang the previous day to attend the 13th meeting of high representatives handling security issues, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Ri is expected to have talks with Russia's Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu in Moscow.

Russia's Security Council said last week that Shoigu will hold talks with officials from North Korea, Iran, India and other countries on Wednesday and Thursday on the sidelines of the meeting of high representatives responsible for security issues.

The meeting between Ri and Shoigu comes as North Korea acknowledged for the first time in April that it has sent thousands of troops to Russia to support Moscow's war against Ukraine.

Experts said they may use the upcoming talks to discuss North Korean troops' future moves and the issues related to the repatriation of the remains of the North's soldiers killed during combat and prisoners of war.

In a separate dispatch, the KCNA said a Russian government delegation, led by Russia's deputy interior minister, arrived in Pyongyang the previous day.

The delegation was greeted by North Korea's vice public security minister and Russia's top envoy to Pyongyang at the international airport, the report said, without disclosing other details.

The Russian government also said last week that it will coordinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's visit to Russia, although specific dates for the visit remain unclear.

Kim has visited Russia twice in 2019 and 2023, but he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Russian Far East and has never visited Moscow.

If the two meet in Moscow next month, it would coincide with the one-year anniversary of Putin's visit to Pyongyang and the 75th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War (1950-53).

The two leaders are expected to primarily discuss military and economic cooperation, including the deployment of North Korean troops to the war in Ukraine, if the meeting materializes.

BY YONHAP, PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]