Key Points
- North Korea supplied infantry rockets and missiles to Russia last year for use by the privately controlled Wagner group
- Russia's Defence Minister travelled last month to North Korea seeking more weapons for the war.
- Kim is likely to travel to Vladivostok, on Russia's Pacific coast, to meet with Putin.
Kim Jong-un plans to travel to Russia this month to meet President Vladimir Putin and discuss the possibility of supplying Moscow with weapons for the war in Ukraine, as Russia says it is seeking closer military ties with North Korea.
In a rare trip abroad, Kim would travel from Pyongyang, probably by armoured train, to Vladivostok, on the Pacific Coast of Russia, where he would meet Putin, the New York Times reported on Monday, citing US and allied sources.
"As we have warned publicly, arms negotiations between Russia and the DPRK are actively advancing," US National Security Council (NSC) spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said, using an acronym for the North.
"We have information that Kim Jong-un expects these discussions to continue, to include leader-level diplomatic engagement in Russia," she added.
While in Vladivostok, a port city not far from North Korea, the two leaders would discuss Kim's sending Russia artillery shells and antitank missiles in exchange for Moscow's advanced technology for satellites and nuclear-powered submarines, the newspaper reported.
At a time when the United States has expressed concern about growing military ties between the two countries, the news of Kim's planned visit came after Russia said it was discussing holding joint military exercises with North Korea.
"Why not, these are our neighbours. There's an old Russian saying: you don't choose your neighbours and it's better to live with your neighbours in peace and harmony," Interfax news agency quoted Russia's Defence Minister, Sergei Shoigu, as saying on Monday.
When asked about the possibility of joint exercises between the two countries, he said they were "of course" being discussed, it said.
South Korean news agency Yonhap earlier cited South Korea's intelligence agency as saying Shoigu, who visited Pyongyang in July, had proposed to Kim that their countries hold a naval exercise, along with China.
The Kremlin said last week that Moscow intends to deepen its "mutually respectful relations" with Pyongyang, one of its close Cold War allies and also one of a small handful of countries to back Russia's proclaimed annexation of parts of Ukraine in 2022.
The New York Times reported that Kim could possibly go to Moscow, although that was not certain.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends a military parade with his daughter to mark the 75th founding anniversary of the Korean People’s Army on 8 February, 2023. Source: AAP / Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP
The United States said last week it was concerned that arms negotiations between Russia and North Korea were advancing actively, and that Shoigu had tried during his visit to convince Pyongyang to sell artillery ammunition to Russia.
Russia and North Korea have recently called for closer military ties but North Korea has denied having any "arms dealings" with Russia.
The United States recently imposed sanctions on three entities it accused of being tied to arms deals between North Korea and Russia.
North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests since 2006 and had been testing various missiles over recent years but it rarely holds military exercises with its neighbours.
The United States and its ally, South Korea, hold regular military exercises, which North Korea denounces as preparations for war against it.
