North Korean public security officials to visit Russia as ties grow

A group of North Korean officials in charge of public security was set to visit Russia, state news agency KCNA said on Tuesday, amid signs of growing diplomatic and security exchanges between the neighbors.

The delegation, led by North Korean Public Security Vice Minister Ri Song Chol, left for Russia by air on Monday, KCNA said, without elaborating.

Pyongyang and Moscow have been increasingly expanding diplomatic and security ties, hosting each other's government, parliamentary and other delegations in recent months.

Officials in Washington and Seoul have accused North Korea of shipping weapons to Russia to support the war against Ukraine in exchange for technological aid with its own nuclear and missile programs.

On Monday, Russia's Vedomosti newspaper said President Vladimir Putin would visit North Korea and Vietnam in the coming weeks. An official in Vietnam told Reuters the Vietnam trip was planned for June 19 and 20, but has not yet been confirmed.


Reuters