During an official visit to Pyongyang, Russian State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin held talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the Russian parliament said on Thursday.
Volodin, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, conveyed greetings from the Russian leader and thanked Kim for North Korea’s support of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine.
Putin-Kim Phone Call
Putin held a phone call with Kim on Tuesday and updated him on planned talks with US President Donald Trump in Alaska on Friday.
Kim sent a reply to a letter from Putin that was delivered by Volodin to celebrate the 80th anniversary of liberation from Japan’s colonial rule, North Korea’s state news agency KCNA reported on Friday.
In the letter to Putin, Kim said the soldiers of North Korea and Russia formed “friendship and unity” in the battlefield to fight against “a mutual enemy” which he didn’t identify, according to KCNA.
Pyongyang and Moscow have both confirmed the deployment of North Korean troops to support Russia’s offensive against Ukraine to reclaim the Kursk region.
South Korea’s intelligence agency said in June that North Korea was potentially ready to send more troops to Russia.
Pipedream
Meanwhile, Kim’s influential sister said on Thursday that Pyongyang never dismantled its propaganda loudspeakers and has no plans to do so, dismissing South Korea’s belief in a positive response to its peace overtures as a mere “pipedream”.
Kim Yo Jong, who is a senior official in the North’s ruling Workers’ Party, also said a change made to the plan for annual joint military drills by South Korea and the United States was a “futile” move that does not change the allies’ hostile intent.
Kim, who officials and analysts believe speaks for her brother, has in recent weeks rebuffed moves taken by South Korea’s new liberal government aimed at easing tension between the two Koreas.
“I am confident that Seoul’s policy towards the DPRK remains unchanged and can never change,” Kim was quoted as saying by KCNA official news agency. DPRK is short for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.
(With inputs from Reuters)
