North Korea’s state news agency did not say the location of the train carrying Kim or whether it had already crossed the border to the Russian side.
North Korea says its autocratic leader Kim Jong-un who left the country’s capital Pyongyang on Sunday by train towards Russia. This was reported by North Korea’s state news agency KCNA early on Tuesday.
KCNA did not say the location of the train or whether the train had already crossed the border to the Russian side. According to state media, the leadership of the country’s Communist Party, administration and armed forces will be traveling with Kim. In addition, the leadership of the country’s arms industry is believed to be part of the delegation, reports the Reuters news agency.
South Korean news agency Yonhap said on Monday that Kim’s private train had left for Vladivostok, Russia. According to Yonhap, the train journey is expected to take at least 20 hours.
North Korea’s state media has already confirmed that Kim will meet the Russian president Vladimir Putin during his visit.
The topic of the meeting is arms sales
Russia has also confirmed that Kim will visit the country in the coming days at the invitation of President Putin. However, the exact date of the meeting has not been announced. According to various media reports, the topic of the meeting between Kim and Putin is arms deals.
According to the South Korean TV channel YTN, the meeting is expected to start on Wednesday.
According to the news agency AFP, experts estimate that Russia would like to acquire, among other things, anti-tank missiles from North Korea. Kim, on the other hand, is believed to want to acquire advanced technology from Russia for satellites and nuclear submarines.
At the same time, Kim is expected to ask Russia for food aid to meet the needs of poor North Korea.
Kim is known to rarely leave North Korea. He has reportedly not traveled abroad since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the US, North Korea has supported Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine with, among other things, missile deliveries. The United States warned North Korea last week that it will pay the price if it provides Russia with weapons to attack Ukraine.
Both the Russian and North Korean administrations have rejected US claims of arms sales between the two countries. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov, the topic of the meeting between Kim and Putin is, among other things, relations between the countries and their strengthening.
Sources: AFP, Reuters