North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits Russia, Moscow says it will make information public if requested

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said Moscow would provide Seoul with details of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's visit to Russia if South Korea requested such information.

Lãnh đạo Triều Tiên Kim Jong Un thăm Nga, Moscow tuyên bố sẽ công khai thông tin nếu được yêu cầu

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Putin met in Vladivostok in 2019. (Source: AP)

According to Interfax on September 12, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said Moscow would provide Seoul with details of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's planned visit to Russia if South Korea requested such information.

Mr. Rudenko said, "We have the South Korean Embassy in Moscow, and if they wish, we can provide them with available information." He also emphasized that Russia will continue to maintain contact with South Korea because Seoul is a trading partner of Moscow and both have "common interests in stabilizing the situation in Northeast Asia and the Korean Peninsula."

Earlier, the South Korean military announced that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “appeared” to have arrived in Russia on a private train in the early hours of September 12 and was expected to hold a rare meeting with President Vladimir Putin that same day.

Russia has not confirmed any details about the trip, but the Kremlin issued a statement on Monday confirming that Kim will make an “official visit to the Russian Federation in the coming days” at the invitation of Putin.

Earlier, North Korea's state news agency reported that Kim left North Korea by train on Sunday and "was accompanied by top officials of the Party, government and armed forces agencies."

North Korean state media showed photos of Kim walking past an honor guard and crowds of civilians holding national flags and flowers, as well as waving from a green and yellow armored train before leaving the station. Kim's delegation may include Foreign Minister Choe Sun Hui and his top military officials, including Marshals Ri Pyong Chol and Pak Jong Chon of the Korean People's Army.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov added that the talks between the two sides will focus on bilateral relations, “Like any neighbor, we feel obligated to develop good, mutually beneficial relations.”

According to the Russian news agency TASS , the meeting place for the two leaders could be the city of Vladivostok in eastern Russia, where the Eastern Economic Forum is currently taking place. Vladivostok is located about 500 km north of Pyongyang and was also the site of Putin's first meeting with Kim in 2019.

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