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North Korea’s Foreign Minister Leaves for Russia, Embassy in Pyongyang Says

A flag hoisting ceremony is held during a celebration meeting and evening gala on the occasion of the 76th founding anniversary of North Korea at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on September 8, 2024. (AFP)
A flag hoisting ceremony is held during a celebration meeting and evening gala on the occasion of the 76th founding anniversary of North Korea at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on September 8, 2024. (AFP)
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North Korea’s Foreign Minister Leaves for Russia, Embassy in Pyongyang Says

A flag hoisting ceremony is held during a celebration meeting and evening gala on the occasion of the 76th founding anniversary of North Korea at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on September 8, 2024. (AFP)
A flag hoisting ceremony is held during a celebration meeting and evening gala on the occasion of the 76th founding anniversary of North Korea at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on September 8, 2024. (AFP)

North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui has flown to Russia to attend the fourth Eurasian Women's Forum and the BRICS Women's Forum in Saint Petersburg, Russia's embassy in North Korea said on Monday.

"Russian Ambassador (Alexander Ivanovich) Matsegora saw off North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui at the Pyongyang International Airport," the embassy said in a post on its Vkontakte social network.

The embassy said that the minister's speeches and participation in discussions are planned at the forum, which will take place Sept. 18 to 20.

Valentina Matviyenko, speaker of the Federation Council, Russia's upper house of parliament, said in June that delegations from almost a hundred countries were expected at the forum.

"We will strive to ensure a record foreign representation in the entire history of the Forum," Matviyenko said in June, according to a transcript provided on the Council's website.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has attended previous meetings of the forum, but the Kremlin is yet to announce his participation in this year's forum.

Warming ties between the countries reached a new high this year when Putin signed a deal with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that included a mutual defense pledge during a visit to Pyongyang.

The United States and its allies have accused North Korea of helping Russia by supplying weapons for its war in Ukraine in return for economic and other military assistance. Moscow and Pyongyang have denied this.

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Putin Orders Military to Boost Troop Numbers by 180,000 to 1.5 million as Ukraine Fighting Continues

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens during a meeting with government officials via video conference at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, March 22, 2021. (AP
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens during a meeting with government officials via video conference at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, March 22, 2021. (AP
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Putin Orders Military to Boost Troop Numbers by 180,000 to 1.5 million as Ukraine Fighting Continues

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens during a meeting with government officials via video conference at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, March 22, 2021. (AP
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens during a meeting with government officials via video conference at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, March 22, 2021. (AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered the country’s military to increase its number of troops by 180,000 to a total of 1.5 million, as Moscow’s military action in Ukraine drags on for more than 2 ½ years.

Putin’s decree, published on the official government website, will take effect Dec. 1. It sets the overall number of Russian military personnel at nearly 2.4 million, including 1.5 million troops, and orders the government to provide the necessary funding, The AP reported.

The previous increase in Russian troop numbers came last December, when a decree by Putin set the total number of Russian military personnel at about 2.2 million, including 1.32 million troops.

The most capable Russian troops have been pressing an offensive in eastern Ukraine, where they have made incremental but steady gains in the past few months.

In June, Putin put the number of troops involved in what the Kremlin calls the “special military operation” in Ukraine at nearly 700,000.

After calling up 300,000 reservists in the face of Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the fall of 2022, Russian authorities have switched to filling the ranks of troops fighting in Ukraine with volunteer soldiers, who have been attracted by relatively high wages.

Many commentators have noted that the Kremlin has been reluctant to call more reservists, fearing domestic destabilization like what happened in 2022 when hundreds of thousands fled Russia to avoid being sent to combat.

The shortage of military personnel has been widely cited as a key reason behind the success of Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk region launched Aug. 6.

The Kremlin has sought to avoid the redeployment of troops from eastern Ukraine and relied on reinforcements from other areas to stem the Ukrainian incursion. The Russian Defense Ministry on Monday reported reclaiming control of two more villages in the Kursk region from Ukrainian forces.