Kim Jong Un's rare overseas trip on Tuesday came ahead of his visit with Vladimir Putin later in the week in the Far East, which experts said would result in Moscow likely seeking artillery shells and antitank missiles from North Korea.
SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea's Kim Jong Un was in Russia on a rare overseas visit Tuesday ahead of a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, sparking warnings from Washington over a possible arms deal for Moscow's war in Ukraine.
Kim will meet Putin in the Far East later this week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said according to Ria Novosti. Accompanied by top North Korean military officials, including officials in charge of weapons production and space technology, Kim "left here by his train on Sunday afternoon to visit the Russian Federation," the official Korean Central News Agency
Kim has not travelled outside the North since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. His last proper overseas trip was in 2019, also to Russia to meet Putin. Even if an arms deal does result from the Putin-Kim summit, it is unlikely either side will make public the full details due to the "serious international legal violations involved," he added.