(Seoul) South Korea said Thursday it was “closely monitoring preparations” by Russian President Vladimir Putin for an expected visit to North Korea, a neighboring enemy country with which relations are at their lowest point.
North Korea and Russia are both subject to heavy international sanctions and have strengthened ties since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
“The government is closely following President Putin’s preparations for his visit to North Korea,” the South Korean Foreign Ministry said.
“Exchanges and cooperation between Russia and North Korea should be conducted in a manner that contributes to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula while respecting Security Council resolutions,” he added in a statement. communicated.
Pyongyang has been accused of supplying weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine, which the Kremlin has denied and called “absurd.”
The itinerary of Vladimir Putin’s visit has not been revealed by either country. But the Kremlin told Russian state media last month that a visit was “being prepared.”
Last month, the Pentagon said in a report that Russia was using North Korean ballistic missiles in Ukraine, citing analysis of weapons debris as proof.
During Vladimir Putin’s visit to North Korea, Pyongyang will likely push to export more military hardware for use in Ukraine in exchange for food and energy from Russia, experts say.
A senior South Korean presidential official said earlier Thursday that the Russian leader was expected to visit North Korea “within a few days.”
He said the visit would take place around the same time as a meeting between South Korean and Chinese officials in Seoul. This meeting is expected early next week, according to the South Korean agency Yonhap.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Wednesday touted the “unbreakable” ties between Pyongyang and Moscow ahead of the Russian leader’s visit.
The two nations have developed “unbreakable bonds of brothers in arms,” the North Korean head of state stressed in a message to Mr. Putin on the occasion of the Russian National Day.
The North Korean leader, who rarely travels outside his country, visited the Russian Far East last September to meet Vladimir Putin.
He said at the time that ties between North Korea and Moscow were his country’s “number one priority.”
Washington and Seoul have accused North Korea of supplying weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine, in violation of U.N. sanctions, in exchange for help for its satellite program.
Analysts have also warned against nuclear-armed North Korea’s intensifying testing and production of artillery and cruise missiles for future arms deliveries to Russia. intended for his war in Ukraine.
U.N. sanctions prohibit North Korea from testing ballistic missiles, but Moscow used its veto at the U.N. Security Council in March to end U.N. monitoring of violations. Pyongyang thanked Moscow for the gesture.