SEOUL – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was travelling to Russia by armoured train early on Tuesday to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, Pyongyang reported, with face-to-face talks potentially to focus on weapon sales.

Experts suggest that Mr Putin is seeking artillery shells and anti-tank missiles from North Korea for Moscow’s war in Ukraine, while Mr Kim is reportedly in search of advanced technology for satellites and nuclear-powered submarines, as well as food aid for his impoverished nation.

Mr Kim “left here by his train on Sunday afternoon to visit the Russian Federation” and was accompanied by senior figures in the Communist Party, the government and military agencies, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

KCNA did not report on the location of Mr Kim’s train on Tuesday, including whether it had crossed the Russian border.

On Monday, the agency had reported that “the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un will meet and have a talk with Comrade Putin during the visit”.

The Kremlin also confirmed that Mr Kim would visit Russia shortly.

Washington swiftly derided the upcoming summit as a sign that Mr Putin is “begging” for help with his floundering invasion of Ukraine.

The confirmation from North Korea ends days of speculation, after US and other officials said recently that Mr Kim, who rarely leaves North Korea, was likely to head to Vladivostok for arms talks with Mr Putin.

Mr Kim has not travelled outside North Korea since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

South Korean broadcaster YTN on Monday said Seoul “expects that Chairman Kim will hold a meeting with President Putin of Russia around the day after tomorrow”, meaning Wednesday.

Vladivostok will be hosting the Eastern Economic Forum until Wednesday.

Moscow, a historical ally of Pyongyang, has been a crucial backer of the isolated country for decades. Their ties go back to the founding of North Korea 75 years ago.

Mr Kim has been steadfast in his support for Moscow’s Ukraine invasion, which includes supplying Moscow with rockets and missiles, Washington says.

In July, Mr Putin hailed Pyongyang’s “firm support for special military operations against Ukraine”.

‘Pay a price’

The White House recently warned that Pyongyang will “pay a price” if it supplies Moscow with weaponry for its war in Ukraine.

On Monday, the United States described Mr Putin as desperate in seeking a meeting with Mr Kim.

“Having to travel across the length of his own country to meet with an international pariah to ask for assistance in a war that he expected to win in the opening month, I would characterise it as him begging for assistance,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

“President Putin launched this war against Ukraine, with its full-scale aggression, with a dream of restoring the glory of the Russian Empire. That hope, that expectation of his, has failed.”

Washington has said Russia might use weapons from North Korea to attack Ukrainian food supplies and heating infrastructure heading into winter to “try to conquer territory that belongs to another sovereign nation”.

Mr Miller renewed US warnings that a Moscow weapons deal with Pyongyang could trigger further sanctions.

Professor Andrei Lankov, a North Korea expert at Kookmin University in Seoul, told AFP that a Putin-Kim summit was part of Moscow’s “gentle diplomatic blackmail” of Seoul, because Russia did not want South Korea to supply weapons to Ukraine.

Seoul is a major arms exporter and has sold tanks to Ukraine’s ally Poland, but longstanding domestic policy bars it from selling weapons into active conflicts.

“The major worry of the Russian government now is a possible shipment of the South Korean ammunition to Ukraine, not just one shipment but a lot of shipments,” Prof Lankov said.

Mr Kim is well known for his preference for train travel when it comes to international trips. His father and predecessor Kim Jong Il was famously scared of flying.

In 2019, the current leader made the 60-hour return trip from Hanoi to Pyongyang by train, after a summit with then US President Donald Trump collapsed. AFP