Russian foreign minister to visit North Korea this week in latest sign of expanding ties

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will travel to North Korea for a three-day visit beginning Friday in the latest sign of the countries’ deepening ties during Russia’s war in Ukraine, state media reported.

North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said Lavrov was invited by the country’s Foreign Ministry but did not immediately provide further details, including whether he would meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Lavrov’s visit follows a June trip by Russia’s top security official, Sergei Shoigu, who met Kim in Pyongyang before saying the North had decided to send thousands of military construction workers and deminers to Russia’s Kursk region to help rebuild the war-torn area.

An assessment by South Korea’s spy agency said the dispatch will take place as early as during July or August.

Kim has sent thousands of combat troops and large supplies of military equipment to help prolong Russia’s war efforts against Ukraine, including artillery and ballistic missiles. The North Korean announcement came as Lavrov was headed to Malaysia for a meeting of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Some South Korean analysts say Lavrov may discuss arranging a visit by Kim to Russia.

Lavrov last visited North Korea in June 2024, when he accompanied President Vladimir Putin to a summit with Kim in Pyongyang. The leaders signed a strategic partnership agreement pledging mutual aid if either country faces aggression.

Pyongyang and Moscow both denied North Korean involvement in the war in Ukraine until April, when they simultaneously acknowledged North Korean soldiers had fought alongside Russian forces to repel a Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk border region.

The two countries have not disclosed how many North Korean soldiers were deployed in Russia, but South Korea, U.S. and Ukraine officials said North Korea sent about 10,000 to 12,000 troops to Russia in the fall of last year. South Korea said North Korea deployed about 3,000 to 4,000 additional soldiers to Russia earlier this year.

U.S., South Korean and Japanese officials have expressed concerns that Kim could seek major technology transfers from Russia in return, which would potentially enhance the threat posed by his military nuclear program.