Sergei Shoigu to reportedly discuss partnership treaty and honoring North Korean soldiers who helped to liberate Kursk
Top Russian security official Sergei Shoigu arrived in Pyongyang for talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Wednesday, as opposition candidate Lee Jae-myung was sworn in as the new South Korean president.
The talks will focus on the implementation of “several clauses” of the two countries’ Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty and honoring North Korean fighters who helped Russian forces liberate the Kursk region from Ukrainian troops, Russia’s state-run RIA news agency reported, citing Russia’s Security Council.
Shoigu, the Security Council’s Secretary, was tasked with the visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin and is expected to discuss the Ukraine war among other issues, according to the outlet.
Russia’s state-run TASS news agency released a video of Shoigu descending from his aircraft and being welcomed by Pak Jong Chon, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission and secretary of the ruling party’s Central Committee, and honor guards at Pyongyang’s Sunan International Airport.
Shoigu previously touted DPRK soldiers for sharing the same trenches with Russian servicemen and defending Russian territory as if it was their own in a meeting with North Korea’s chief of secret police in Moscow last week.
Russian Ambassador to the DPRK Alexander Matsegora previously floated the idea of creating memorial monuments in Kursk to honor fallen North Korean soldiers, as well as renaming local landmarks after them.
Shoigu’s visit comes less than three months after he flew to Pyongyang to deliver a “personal message” from Putin to Kim in March. The Ukraine conflict also took center stage during their meeting.
In April, the two countries openly acknowledged the involvement of DPRK troops in Russia’s war against Ukraine, specifically in repelling Kyiv’s forces from the western region of Kursk.
