President Vladimir Putin of Russia, who is reportedly visiting North Korea for the first time in 24 years, is expected to head to Pyongyang as early as next week. After he visits North Korea, Putin is presumed to immediately depart for Vietnam.
On the 12th, Japan’s NHK reported that according to various diplomatic sources including high-ranking Russian officials, Putin’s visit to North Korea is being coordinated early next week. They added that the official schedule would be released soon.
Putin met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Amur region of Russia in September last year. At the meeting, Putin accepted Kim’s invitation to visit Pyongyang. NHK speculated that Putin, who is currently invading Ukraine, plans to strengthen military ties with North Korea by procuring insufficient weapons and ammunition from the country. They also suggested that Kim might seek additional military support in space and military sectors from Putin, mentioning North Korea’s failure to launch a military reconnaissance satellite on the 27th of last month.
Earlier on the 10th, Russian media outlet Vedemosti reported that Putin might visit North Korea this month. Putin’s visit to North Korea would be the first since July 2000, when Kim Jong Il was in power as the Chairman of the National Defense Commission. Aleksandr Matsegora, the Russian Ambassador to North Korea, told Vedemosti that ” Putin’s visit to Pyongyang is currently being actively prepared.” On the same day, Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, said, “We announce the president’s overseas schedule in agreement with the leadership of the counterpart country,” adding, “We will make the announcement when the time comes.”
Concerning this, Voice of America (VOA) reported on the 12th that a large event was being prepared in Pyongyang, citing satellite images captured by U.S. private satellite service company Planet Labs the day before.
VOA explained that a large object, which was not present before, had been spotted next to the podium at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang. They also mentioned that structures are lined up near the Cabinet General Office building to the north of the square and the Ministry of Foreign Trade building to the south. North Korea has often set up structures at Kim Il Sung Square for the visits of high-ranking officials from China and Russia or during parades.
Putin, who began his fifth presidential term on the 7th of last month, has been actively traveling abroad to overcome the encirclement by the West. Starting with the visit to China on the 15th of last month, he visited Belarus and Uzbekistan. Vedemosti suggested that Putin might visit Vietnam after North Korea. NHK predicted that Putin might visit North Korea early next week and then immediately head to Vietnam in the same week.
