Russia’s Shoigu Meets North Korea’s Kim for Second Time in Less Than Two Weeks

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (R) meets with Russia's then Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on July 26, 2023. (Reuters / KCNA)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (R) meets with Russia's then Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on July 26, 2023. (Reuters / KCNA)
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Russia’s Shoigu Meets North Korea’s Kim for Second Time in Less Than Two Weeks

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (R) meets with Russia's then Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on July 26, 2023. (Reuters / KCNA)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (R) meets with Russia's then Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on July 26, 2023. (Reuters / KCNA)

Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia's Security Council, met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for the second time in less than two weeks during a visit to North Korea on Tuesday, Russian news agency Interfax reported.  

Interfax quoted the Russian Security Council as saying that negotiations between Kim and Shoigu, who until last year was Russia's defense minister, had begun. It did not specify the subject of their talks.  

Shoigu previously visited Pyongyang and met Kim on March 21 and June 4 this year. 

Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a strategic partnership treaty last year, including a mutual defense pact.  

North Korea sent thousands of soldiers late last year to help Russia expel Ukrainian troops from its western Kursk region. Confirming the deployment for the first time in April, Putin and Kim described the North Koreans who had fought for Russia as heroes.  

British defense intelligence said this week that North Korean troops had suffered more than 6,000 casualties in Kursk. North Korea has not disclosed its losses.  

The US and South Korea say North Korea has shipped ballistic missiles, anti-tank rockets and millions of rounds of ammunition for Russia to use against Ukraine. Moscow and Pyongyang have denied weapons transfers.  

A Reuters investigation in April 2025 found that millions of North Korean shells had made their way to the frontlines in massive shipments by sea and then by train. 



South Korean Prosecutors Seek Drone Chief's Arrest over Operation in North

A South Korean flag covers a ceremonial guard member prior to the arrival of South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in at the White House in Washington, US, April 11, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/Files
A South Korean flag covers a ceremonial guard member prior to the arrival of South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in at the White House in Washington, US, April 11, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/Files
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South Korean Prosecutors Seek Drone Chief's Arrest over Operation in North

A South Korean flag covers a ceremonial guard member prior to the arrival of South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in at the White House in Washington, US, April 11, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/Files
A South Korean flag covers a ceremonial guard member prior to the arrival of South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in at the White House in Washington, US, April 11, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/Files

South Korean prosecutors said on Sunday they had sought court approval to detain the head of a military drone unit as part of an investigation into former President Yoon Suk Yeol and drone operations in neighboring North Korea.

Prosecutors stepped up a probe into the drone operation after indicting the jailed ex-President Yoon on Saturday on additional charges for his short-lived declaration of martial law in December.

They had summoned the unit's chief, Kim Yong-dae, on Thursday regarding accusations that Yoon ordered a covert drone operation into the North last year to inflame tension between the neighbors to justify his martial law decree, Reuters reported.

Yoon has denied the accusations.

Kim told reporters the incident was part of a "clandestine military operation" in response to trash balloons sent from the North and not intended to provoke the neighboring nation.

In October, North Korea said the South had sent drones to scatter anti-North Korea leaflets over Pyongyang, and published photos of the remains of a crashed South Korean military drone.

South Korea at the time declined to disclose whether it had sent the drones.

In a statement on Sunday, the prosecution office said it had sought an arrest warrant for Kim. Media said a court hearing is planned for Monday afternoon to review the request for a warrant.

He was arrested on Friday without a court warrant, media said. Prosecutors and police are permitted to make an "emergency arrest" if they have a strong belief someone is guilty of a serious crime and may flee or destroy evidence.