A top Russian security official met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang on Friday and thanked him for the country’s support of Moscow’s war efforts in Ukraine, according to Russian state media.
The meeting came after South Korea’s spy agency said in late February that North Korea appeared to have sent additional troops to Russia after its soldiers fighting in the Russian-Ukraine war suffered heavy casualties.
Russia’s state-run news agency Tass reported that Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s Security Council secretary, during a meeting with Kim, expressed gratitude for North Korea’s “solidarity with Russia’s position on all critical geopolitical issues, particularly on the Ukrainian issue.”
Tass said Shoigu also conveyed a message from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who extended his greetings and vowed to give “utmost attention” to implementing agreements reached in their recent summits.
Interfax, another Russian news agency, quoted Shoigu as saying that various issues were discussed with Kim, including Russia’s war in Ukraine, Moscow’s dialogues with the Trump administration and the security situation on the Korean Peninsula.
Shoigu’s visit comes after Ukraine and Russia agreed in principle Wednesday to a limited ceasefire after President Donald Trump spoke with the countries’ leaders, though it remained to be seen when it might take effect and what possible targets would be off-limits to attack.
North Korea’s state news agency, KCNA, earlier confirmed the arrival of a Russian delegation led by Shoigu but didn’t provide details on the purpose of their visit.
North Korea has been supplying a vast amount of conventional weapons to Russia, and last fall it sent about 10,000 to 12,000 troops to Russia as well, according to US, South Korean and Ukraine intelligence officials. In its Feb. 27 statement, South Korea's National Intelligence Service said it was trying to determine exactly how many more troops North Korea has deployed to Russia. South Korean media put the number of newly deployed North Korean soldiers at about 1,000 to 3,000.
South Korea, the US and others suspect North Korea is receiving economic and military assistance from Russia in return for providing weapons and troops. Many experts say North Korea will likely ramp up its support of Russia to win as many benefits as possible from Russia before the war ends.
Shoigu’s trip could be related to Kim’s possible preparation to visit Russia, some observers say. In June 2024, Putin visited Pyongyang and signed a major mutual defense treaty with Kim. At the time, Putin invited Kim to visit Moscow.
In 2023, when Shoigu, then a defense minister, traveled to North Korea, Kim gave him a personal tour of a North Korean arms exhibition in what outside critics likened to a sales pitch. In September 2024, Shoigu, then with the new security council post, went to North Korea again for a meeting with Kim, and the two discussed expanding cooperation, according to North Korea’s state media.
Earlier Friday, KCNA said Kim oversaw the test-launches of new anti-aircraft missiles the previous day. It cited Kim as calling the missiles “another major defense weapons system” for North Korea.
The missile launches, North Korea’s sixth weapons testing activity this year, occurred on the same day that the US and South Korean militaries concluded their annual training that North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal. The 11-day Freedom Shield exercise was the allies’ first major joint military training since Trump's inauguration in January.
North Korea often responds to major US-South Korean military drills with its own weapons tests and fiery rhetoric. Hours after this year’s Freedom Shield training began on March 10, North Korea fired several ballistic missiles into the sea.
