Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu has arrived in North Korea, where he is scheduled to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported on March 21.
North Korea has emerged as a key military ally of Russia, supplying Moscow with artillery shells, missiles, and even soldiers in exchange for oil products and advanced rocket technology.
"After he arrives in Pyongyang, Shoigu is scheduled to meet with Kim Jong Un and other North Korean officials," Russia's state-owned TASS news agency confirmed.
The visit follows recent high-level diplomatic exchanges between Moscow and Pyongyang. Earlier this month, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko met with North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui to discuss "political contacts at high and highest levels."
The latest round of talks comes as North Korea continues to provide military support to Russia amid its ongoing war against Ukraine.
Officials estimate that up to 12,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to Russia's Kursk Oblast since last fall to counter Ukraine's cross-border incursion launched in August 2024.
President Volodymyr Zelensky previously reported that North Korean forces fighting for Russia had suffered 4,000 casualties, with two-thirds of the losses being soldiers killed.
Shoigu, who served as Russia's defense minister until his dismissal in May 2024, now oversees national security matters as secretary of the Russian Security Council.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Shoigu on June 25, 2024, for his role in leading Russia's war effort.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
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