Choe Son-hui Visits Russia, Preparing for 'Kim Jong-un's Russia Visit'?

'Military Deployment' Followed by Foreign Minister's Visit to Russia
Kim Jong-un May Visit Russia as Early as Early Next Year

North Korea has deployed soldiers to the Russian battlefield, and Choe Son-hui, North Korea's Foreign Minister, has visited Russia. It is expected that she will discuss follow-up measures to the deployment as well as Kim Jong-un's visit to Russia.

According to the Korean Central News Agency on the 29th, Choe Son-hui and her delegation departed Pyongyang the day before for an official visit to Russia. The Russian Embassy in North Korea also announced Choe's visit to Russia through social media. The embassy emphasized that Choe's visit is taking place within the framework of a 'strategic dialogue,' introducing that both sides agreed to activate strategic dialogue during the North Korea-Russia summit in June this year.

Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister (left), and Choe Son Hui, North Korean Foreign Minister, are shaking hands.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Choe Son-hui also attended an international event held in Saint Petersburg on the 16th of last month. She is visiting Russia again in just a month. North Korea has not disclosed the inviter or agenda for this visit, but since it is an 'official visit,' there is speculation that discussions regarding Kim Jong-un's visit to Russia will take place.

Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesperson, said on the 25th (local time) regarding Kim Jong-un's visit to Russia, "Close neighboring countries continuously exchange visits at high and top levels."

With the U.S. presidential election approaching, responses from both sides are also expected to be on the agenda. Hyun Seung-soo, senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said, "It is speculated that both sides will discuss responses after the U.S. election while also coordinating Kim Jong-un's visit schedule to Russia," predicting that the earliest possible time for Kim Jong-un's visit to Russia would be 'early next year.'

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