Conflicting Announcements on Putin's North Korea Visit: "No Plans" vs. "Gladly Accepted"

Following North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un's visit to Russia, attention is now focused on whether Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit North Korea.

Curiosity has grown as Russia and North Korea made subtly different announcements regarding President Putin's potential visit to North Korea.

On the 14th, North Korea's state-run media outlet Korean Central News Agency reported that after the North Korea-Russia summit dinner the previous day, Chairman Kim politely invited President Putin to "visit the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) at a convenient time," and President Putin "gladly accepted the invitation."

However, the Kremlin had previously stated that President Putin currently has no plans to visit North Korea.

Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesperson, told reporters after the summit the day before that "there are no such plans yet" regarding President Putin's visit to North Korea.

It is possible to infer that although President Putin accepted Chairman Kim's invitation, no concrete plans for the visit have been made yet, but it is difficult to clearly understand why the two sides issued conflicting statements.

Major foreign media reported, "The Korean Central News Agency reported that President Putin accepted the invitation, but there was no immediate confirmation from the Kremlin."

However, spokesperson Peskov stated that during the North Korea-Russia summit, an agreement was reached regarding Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's visit to North Korea, and that he could meet with North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui as early as next month.

North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin saying farewell.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

President Putin's overseas visit schedule is a matter of great international interest. Since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for President Putin in March, he has not embarked on any overseas trips.

President Putin's first overseas visit since the ICC arrest warrant is expected to be China. He is anticipated to attend the 'Belt and Road Forum' held in China next month.

In July, Yuri Ushakov, Russian President's foreign affairs advisor, announced that President Putin would attend the Belt and Road Forum in response to an invitation from President Xi Jinping.

However, the Kremlin has only mentioned that "contact schedules are being coordinated" and that a "Russia-China summit will be held within the year," without clearly announcing President Putin's plans to visit China.

In a video conference last December, President Putin invited President Xi, which resulted in President Xi making a state visit to Russia in March. During the state visit, President Xi invited President Putin to visit China within the year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.