North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui meets Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow during a visit in October last year made at the invitation of the Russian Foreign Ministry. [Pyongyang Rodong Sinmun via News1]
North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui meets Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow during a visit in October last year made at the invitation of the Russian Foreign Ministry. [Pyongyang Rodong Sinmun via News1]

North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui's arrival in Russia at the invitation of the Russian Foreign Ministry has fueled speculation that leader Kim Jong-un could visit Moscow before the end of the year.

Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported Saturday that Choe arrived in Moscow for an official visit at the invitation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, according to Yonhap.

The specific purpose and schedule of the visit have not been disclosed, and North Korean state media, including KCNA, did not immediately report her departure.

The trip marks Choe's first visit to Russia in about nine months, following a working-level visit to Moscow in October last year. High-level exchanges between the two countries had peaked around the April completion ceremony for a military deployment memorial in North Korea, held to mark the first anniversary of the "Kursk liberation operation," then tapered off. Choe's latest visit signals a renewed momentum.

Analysts note that Choe moved without an obvious diplomatic trigger such as a multilateral meeting, lending weight to the view that the visit is aimed at laying the groundwork for a trip by Kim to Russia.

The possibility of a Kim visit to Russia has been consistently raised since Vladimir Putin requested a return visit during their Pyongyang summit in June 2024. Putin renewed the invitation when he met Kim on the sidelines of China's Victory Day parade in Beijing in September last year.

Russia faces deepening international isolation as the war in Ukraine drags on amid the fallout from conflicts in the Middle East, with conditions worsening as rear-area energy facilities come under drone attack — making a strong show of solidarity with North Korea all the more pressing for Moscow.

Kim, for his part, recently reinforced the North Korea-China alliance through Xi Jinping's visit to Pyongyang and high-level exchanges marking the 65th anniversary of the North Korea-China Treaty of Friendship. Coordinating a Russia visit now would allow him to showcase both Beijing and Moscow as twin backers, projecting diplomatic clout at home and abroad.


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