North Korea's "Choe Son-hui, Foreign Minister, to Visit Russia from 15th to 17th (Update)"

by Choi Donghyeon

Published 14 Jan.2024 16:34(KST)

Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea. [Image source=Yonhap News]

North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui is reported to visit Russia from the 15th to the 17th upon the invitation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

According to the Korean Central News Agency on the 14th, Foreign Minister Choe is expected to hold a North Korea-Russia foreign ministers' meeting with Foreign Minister Lavrov.

Choe's visit to Russia is seen as a move to strengthen solidarity between North Korea and Russia amid the deepening new Cold War structure. It appears to be a follow-up measure to the directive by State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un at the Workers' Party plenary meeting held at the end of last year to strengthen solidarity with anti-American countries.

There is also significant interest in whether Foreign Minister Choe will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. In October last year, Foreign Minister Lavrov visited North Korea for the first time in five years and five months and met with Chairman Kim Jong-un and Foreign Minister Choe. At that time, Foreign Minister Lavrov invited Foreign Minister Choe to visit Moscow at a convenient time.