Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, arrived in Pyongyang, North Korea, early Wednesday. Originally planned as an overnight state visit, it was shortened to a day trip due to Putin’s late arrival.
The Kremlin confirmed Putin’s arrival in Pyongyang via social media. Earlier, Russian media outlets reported that Putin’s private jet had landed at Sunan Airport in Pyongyang at 2:22 a.m., citing data from online flight tracking site FlightRadar24.
According to photos released by Russia, despite it being past 2 a.m., North Korean leader Kim Jong Un personally greeted Putin at the airport.
This is Putin’s first visit to North Korea in 24 years since July 2000. Putin met with Kim Jong Il, the father of Kim Jong Un and then-Defense Committee Chairman, in Pyongyang 24 years ago and announced a joint declaration.
This marks the third meeting between Putin and Kim.
The two leaders held summit meetings in Vladivostok, Russia, in April 2019 and at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia in September of last year.
At the summit meeting this afternoon, Putin is expected to sign a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement to upgrade bilateral relations. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov revealed that security issues would be included in this agreement the day before.
This summit meeting is seen as an opportunity to strengthen security and economic cooperation between the two countries. Yesterday, Putin proposed creating a mutual payment method independent of Western control in an op-ed for the North Korean newspaper Rodong Sinmun.
There is also a focus on the possibility of security cooperation close to the level of the ‘automatic military intervention’ abolished in 1996.
