Kim Jong Un to meet with Vladimir Putin in April

World
Europe

Kim Jong Un, leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), will travel to Russia and meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in the second half of this month at the invitation from Moscow, the Kremlin said on Thursday.

This is going to be the first DPRK-Russia summit since Kim's inauguration in 2011. Putin has long expressed readiness to meet with Kim, looking to play a bigger role in the stagnant nuclear talks.

The announcement came right after Pyongyang's test fire of a new tactical guided weapon, a system that can greatly improve the DPRK's military power, according to the country's official KCNA new agency. The test was seen as the first major move since the summit between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump broke down in February with no deal.

DPRK leader Kim Jong Un (R1) listens as U.S. President Donald Trump (L1) speaks during the extended bilateral meeting during their summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, February 28, 2019. /Reuters Photo

Kim said the weapon system "serves as an event of very weighty significance in increasing the combat power" of the DPRK's military power.

When and where?

The Kremlin gave no further details in the statement, but many say it's likely to be in Russia's far east next week.

Russia's Izvestia newspaper cited a diplomatic source on Wednesday as saying the Putin-Kim meeting would likely take place next week in Russia's Far Eastern city of Vladivostok before Putin flies on to the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing on April 26-27.

It was not clear how Kim will travel to Russia.

02:46

What's on the agenda?

Nuclear talks will top the agenda, Moscow's official Russia Today reported, citing sources. Bilateral economic cooperation will also be a major focus.

Some analysts, yet, expect no practical breakthroughs for the summit.

"There will be declarations, promises, they will sign yet another declaration of intent to increase trade 10 times in five years, but after two years they will forget about it," Andrei Lankov of Seoul's Kookmin University told AFP.

China: Happy to see the summit

On Friday, Beijing said it is glad to see more high-level exchanges between Moscow and Pyongyang.

With both being nice neighbors of China, more dialogues between the two sides will be good for regional stability, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said.

(With input from agencies)