North Korea Expected to Host Putin Soon

(Newsworthy.news) – North Korea’s communist leadership is preparing to host Russia’s president in the nation soon.

According to a January 21 announcement from a North Korean media outlet, Vladimir Putin informed Choe Son Hui, North Korea’s foreign minister, that he planned to come to the capital city of Pyongyang “at an early date.”

Putin was apparently invited to visit back in September 2023 by Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s communist dictator. The invitation was extended during the communist leader’s visit and tour of Russia. That trip marked the first of Kim’s since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, Putin’s trip to North Korea is anticipated as the first world leader visit to the state since 2020.

Both visits fall amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, which has lost thousands of citizens in the violence and forced thousands more to evacuate their homeland. The conflict began in February 2022, when Russian forces invaded Ukraine.

Earlier this month, Foreign Minister Choe traveled to Moscow to meet with multiple Russian leaders, including President Putin. She also met with Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, and Alexandr Nobak, the country’s deputy prime minister.

At the time, Choe expressed that Putin shared “deep thanks” for Kim’s invitation to have him visit North Korea. According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), which is run by the communist state, Choe then shared the president’s intention to accept the invitation.

The state-run media outlet wrote at the time that the government of North Korea “warmly welcomes” Putin’s plan to visit in the near future. However, the outlet did not disclose any more details about when that visit will occur. The anticipated trip will be Putin’s first trip to North Korea since Kim took control of the nation.

The Russian president’s latest trip to the communist-led country was in 2000, at which time Kim’s father—Kim Jong-il—was ruling. The KCNA optimistically noted the possibility of revamping the relationship between North Korea and Russia by enhancing a “bilateral exchange” throughout “all fields.”