Seoul, July 9 (IANS) Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit North Korea later this week, the North’s state media reported Wednesday.
Lavrov will visit North Korea from Friday to Sunday at the invitation of the North Korean foreign ministry, the Korean Central News Agency said, without providing further details.
Once in North Korea, Lavrov is likely to meet North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui and pay a courtesy call on leader Kim Jong-un.
The main agenda of the discussion is expected to be Kim’s visit to Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin invited Kim to Moscow during his visit to Pyongyang in June last year.
Lavrov last visited North Korea in June last year, accompanying Putin to Pyongyang, Yonhap news agency reported.
The scheduled visit comes as the two countries have dramatically expanded bilateral cooperation and exchanges over the past year, following the signing of a mutual defence treaty in June in Pyongyang.
Earlier on June 17, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held talks with Russia’s Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu in Pyongyang as the two countries prepare to mark the first anniversary of their mutual defence treaty.
Kim and Shoigu began their talks in the North Korean capital, citing the press service of the Russian Security Council, shortly after reporting on Shoigu’s arrival in Pyongyang.
Shoigu had visited North Korea on a special mission from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It marked Shoigu’s second visit to North Korea this month, following his previous trip in early June, during which he also met with Kim and discussed security issues involving the Korean Peninsula.
Tass Russian news agency, quoted the Russian Security Council as saying that Shoigu’s meeting with Kim is part of the agreements reached during his previous visit to North Korea on June 4, adding that it is a follow-up to the mutual defence agreement signed last year between North Korea and Russia.
Shoigu’s back-to-back visit to North Korea came as Pyongyang and Moscow marked the first anniversary of the signing of the treaty on their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in June last year in Pyongyang by Kim and Putin, which resulted in North Korea’s deployment of troops on the Russian side in the war against Ukraine.
The approach of the June 19 anniversary had fueled speculation that Kim may visit Russia for a summit with Putin, although no signs of his immediate trip have been reported.
Russia’s annual Eastern Economic Forum, scheduled for September in Vladivostok near the border with North Korea, has been speculated as a possible occasion for Kim’s trip to Russia and a summit with Putin.
–IANS
int/jk/dan
