Amid speculation that the Russian President will visit North Korea, the US and South Korea held an emergency meeting, and Washington declared a 'steel-like' commitment to Seoul.

On June 14, South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun had an urgent phone call with his US counterpart Kurt Campbell to discuss Russian President Vladimir Putin's possible upcoming visit to North Korea.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during a meeting in the Amur region, Russia's Far East, in September 2023. (Source: Sputnik)

Reuters reported that during the phone call, Vice Minister Kim Hong-kyun said that Putin's visit would not lead to deeper military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow, as it would violate United Nations Security Council resolutions.

Responding to his counterpart's concerns, Mr. Campbell pledged to continue cooperation to address regional challenges raised by the visit.

A senior official at the South Korean presidential office announced on June 12 that Mr. Putin is expected to visit North Korea "in the coming days," but neither Moscow nor Pyongyang has commented on the news.

If the visit takes place, it will be the first by a Russian leader to North Korea in more than two decades. President Vladimir Putin visited Pyongyang in July 2000 to meet Kim Jong Il, father of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Last September, while visiting Russia, Mr. Kim Jong-un invited the Russian President to visit his country.

In a development related to the Korean peninsula, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that on June 13, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller called on Pyongyang to stop activities that could cause tension in inter-Korean relations.

Speaking at a press conference, Mr. Miller reaffirmed the US security commitment to its ally South Korea, describing this commitment as "as solid as steel".

The call comes as tensions between the two Koreas flared after Pyongyang recently launched balloons filled with trash into its neighbor in retaliation for leaflets being dropped.

South Korea then suspended the 2018 inter-Korean tension reduction agreement (CMA) and resumed anti-North Korea broadcasts.

Hours before South Korea launched its first radio broadcasts in six years on June 9, officials said about 20 North Korean soldiers crossed the Military Demarcation Line (MLD) inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates the two Koreas, but retreated after Seoul fired warning shots.

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