By Andrew Osborn
(Reuters) -Sergei Shoigu, a senior Russian security official, held talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for the second time in two weeks on Tuesday and said he was carrying out “special instructions” from President Vladimir Putin.
Shoigu, secretary of Russia’s Security Council and a former defence minister with close ties to Putin, previously visited Pyongyang and met Kim on March 21 and June 4 as Moscow and Pyongyang draw closer together in the face of what they say is a hostile West.
Russia’s state Rossiiskaya Gazeta, which said Shoigu and Kim were holding wide-ranging security consultations on Tuesday, published a video of Kim – wearing a traditional Mao suit – hugging Shoigu on arrival before accompanying him to a hall with a long negotiating table.
“Two weeks have passed and we are meeting again,” said Kim, before chuckling.
“The president’s instruction must be fulfilled,” replied Shoigu, who quickly agreed when Kim said Shoigu’s frequent visits showed that ties between Moscow and Pyongyang were getting stronger.
In a message last week, Kim called Putin his “dearest comrade” and praised their bilateral relations as a “genuine relationship between comrades-in-arms” – a reference to the role of North Korean troops who Moscow said helped it drive Ukrainian forces out of Russia’s western Kursk region last year.
Shoigu was given the red carpet treatment in Pyongyang and met off his plane by an honour guard and Marshal Pak Jong-chon, who occupies the second most powerful position in the secretive North Korean military.
‘SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FROM PUTIN’
“Sergei Shoigu arrived in Pyongyang on special instructions from Russian President Vladimir Putin,” a statement from Russia’s Security Council said.
“These agreements are being implemented within the framework of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty.”
Kim and Putin signed the strategic partnership treaty in June last year, which included a mutual defence pact. Moscow later referenced the agreement when explaining the deployment of North Korean soldiers to Kursk.
Rossiiskaya Gazeta said Shoigu’s talks earlier this month had, among other things, focused on proposals to commemorate the role of the North Korean troops.
British military intelligence said this week that North Korean troops had suffered more than 6,000 casualties in Kursk. North Korea has not disclosed its losses.
The U.S. and South Korea say North Korea has shipped ballistic missiles, anti-tank rockets and millions of rounds of ammunition for Russia to use in its war against Ukraine. Moscow and Pyongyang have denied weapons transfers.
A Reuters investigation in April 2025 found that millions of North Korean shells had made their way to the front lines in massive shipments by sea and then by train.
Russia said this month the two countries planned to shortly restart a direct passenger train service between Moscow and Pyongyang for the first time since 2020, a journey which at over 10,000 km (6,213 miles) it said was the world’s longest direct rail trip.
(Reporting by Andrew Osborn; additional reporting by Mark Trevelyan; editing by Mark Heinrich)
