Camilla Jessen
Russian foreign minister to meet North Korean officials.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will travel to North Korea later this week, according to the country’s official news agency KCNA.
“Lavrov will pay a visit to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) between July 11 and 13, at the invitation of the DPRK Foreign Ministry,” the agency reported on Wednesday, using North Korea’s official name.
The information was cited by AFP and Agerpres.
The visit comes about a month and a half after the Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Sergei Shoigu—also a former defense minister and close ally of the Kremlin—visited Pyongyang. That trip marked the one-year anniversary of the signing of a mutual defense agreement between Russia and North Korea.
In recent years, Moscow and Pyongyang have increased military cooperation, with North Korea providing weapons and troops to support Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The two countries signed a mutual defense agreement during a visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to North Korea last year.
A contingent of North Korean soldiers took part in fighting alongside the Russian army in the Russian Kursk region, which had been partially occupied by Ukrainian forces since the summer of 2024. Russia announced the region’s liberation at the end of April.
In April, Pyongyang confirmed for the first time that it had deployed troops to the Ukrainian front alongside Russian forces.
