Ukraine ceasefire, NK leader's trip to Moscow may top agenda for Shoigu-Kim meeting

Russia's top security official may discuss ongoing efforts for a ceasefire in Russia's war against Ukraine and the North Korean leader's potential visit to Moscow during his talks with Kim Jong-un, experts said Friday.

Earlier in the day, Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia's Security Council, arrived in Pyongyang to meet Kim, Russia's Tass news agency reported, marking the latest in a recent series of high-level exchanges between the two countries.

Shoigu's trip to Pyongyang comes at a delicate time when Russian and Ukrainian officials have held separate talks with the United States for a ceasefire in the war and amid speculation that Kim may travel to Moscow in May.

Experts said Shoigu, widely viewed as a "special envoy" for Russian President Vladimir Putin, is likely to share the latest details on the ceasefire negotiations and discuss the future of the two countries' cooperation amid deepening military cooperation.

As North Korea has sent more than 11,000 troops to Russia's western front-line region of Kursk to support Moscow's war efforts since last year, attention has been paid to what Moscow would provide to Pyongyang in return.

Shoigu has played a key role in bilateral ties in recent years, meeting Kim in his visits to Pyongyang in July 2023 and September last year, just months after Kim and Putin signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty in Pyongyang in June.

Shortly after Shoigu's trip to Pyongyang last year, North Korea dispatched troops to Russia in October in support of its fight against a major Ukrainian offensive that took place in Kursk earlier that year.

"Due to the role of North Korean forces, Russia has recently effectively taken back the Kursk region," Hyun Seong-soo, vice president of the Korea Institute for National Unification, said. "The two sides will confirm their stance over the price of North Korean forces' blood for the victory in Kursk."

Observers have raised concerns that Pyongyang could be receiving advanced military technology for its weapons development programs, including intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear-powered submarines, in return for sending troops to Russia.

Earlier this month, North Korea unveiled it was building a nuclear-powered submarine for the first time, which experts say would likely be impossible without outside help.

Meanwhile, the talks between Shoigu and Kim could also feature the North Korean leader's possible visit to Russia as an agenda item, considering Putin's invitation to Kim to visit his country during their talks in Pyongyang last June.

Observers have raised the possibility of the two leaders meeting on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Russia's Victory Day that commemorates the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko held talks with North Korea's Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui on Saturday and discussed "top-level" contact between the two countries, Tass earlier reported, fueling speculation over Kim's potential visit to Russia.

Shoigu's trip also comes after South Korea and the U.S. wrapped up their major joint springtime military exercise Thursday, raising the possibility that the Russian official could discuss other areas for military cooperation with the North.

"(They) could discuss joint North Korea-Russia military exercises in the East Sea and announce them," Hyun said.

North Korea has long denounced South Korea-U.S. military drills as rehearsals for an invasion against it despite the allies maintaining that such exercises are defense in nature. (Yonhap)