South Korea says it is ‘closely observing Vladimir Putin’s preparations’ for visit to North Korea

South Korea announced, Thursday June 13, “monitor preparations closely” of Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of an expected visit to North Korea. A visit in a tense context, while relations between Seoul and Pyongyang are at their lowest. For their part, North Korea and Russia are both subject to heavy international sanctions and have strengthened ties since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Pyongyang has been accused of supplying weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine, which the Kremlin has denied and called“absurd”. The itinerary of Vladimir Putin’s visit has not been revealed by either country. But the Kremlin told Russian state media last month that a visit was “In preparation”.

In a report last month, the Pentagon observed that Russia was using North Korean ballistic missiles in Ukraine, citing analysis of weapons debris as proof. During Vladimir Putin’s visit to North Korea, Pyongyang will likely push to export more military equipment for use in Ukraine in exchange for food and energy from Russia, experts say.