North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui visits Russia for the first time in 9 months

North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui has departed Pyongyang for Russia, according to North Korean state media. The trip, reportedly at the invitation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, is Choe's first visit to Russia in approximately nine months.

North Korean state news agency KCNA reported that Choe left Pyongyang on a private jet. She was seen off at Pyongyang International Airport by Vice Foreign Minister Kim Song-gyu and the interim charge d'affaires of the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang, Vladimir Topeha. However, KCNA did not disclose the specific objectives or detailed schedule of her visit.

Russian state media had previously reported that Choe would make an official visit to Moscow on July 18, though without providing specific details. Her last visit to Russia in October was described as a working visit, lower in protocol than an official trip. This occurred shortly after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing in September.

Speculation suggests Choe's visit may involve discussions about Kim Jong Un's potential return visit to Russia, which Putin has requested multiple times since their summit in Pyongyang in June and a subsequent meeting in China in September. The timing of Choe's visit, coinciding with increased high-level exchanges between North Korea and China following Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Pyongyang last month, also draws attention. Observers suggest Choe might share information regarding North Korea-China relations with Russian officials.

The visit takes place against a backdrop of strained relations between South Korea and Russia. Last week, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko expressed concern to the South Korean ambassador in Moscow regarding Seoul's strengthening cooperation with NATO. Rudenko stated that South Korea's participation in NATO's defense industry partnership, following President Yoon Suk Yeol's attendance at the NATO summit, was "unacceptable" and akin to complicity in NATO's military buildup.