Russia’s Secretary of the Security Council Sergei Shoigu meets North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (not pictured) in Pyongyang, North Korea, June 4, 2025, in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency. KCNA via REUTERS/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab

Item 1 of 2 Russia’s Secretary of the Security Council Sergei Shoigu meets North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (not pictured) in Pyongyang, North Korea, June 4, 2025, in this picture released by the Korean Central News Agency. KCNA via REUTERS/File Photo

SEOUL, June 17 (Reuters) – Russia’s top presidential security adviser Sergei Shoigu was expected to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un after arriving in Pyongyang “on special instructions” from President Vladimir Putin, Russia’s Tass news agency reported on Tuesday.

Shoigu will hold talks with the North Korean “leadership on implementing agreements” reached during his visit earlier in June under the comprehensive strategic partnership treaty signed by the two leaders last year, Tass reported.

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It did not elaborate on the details of Shoigu’s expected talks or what Putin’s instructions were.

The visit by Shoigu is the third in nearly three months as the two countries rapidly advanced diplomatic and security ties in the past two years, including North Korea’s military support for Russia in the war against Ukraine.

Reuters investigation has found that North Korea has supplied millions of artillery rounds and thousands of troops to Russia for fighting in Ukraine.

Kim has expressed ” unconditional support ” for Russia’s policies amid concerns by South Korean and Western officials that North Korea may be receiving Moscow’s help with advanced military technology as well as economic assistance.

Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Michael Perry

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will travel to North Korea for a three-day visit beginning Friday in the latest sign of the countries’ deepening ties during Russia’s war in Ukraine, state media reported.

North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said Lavrov was invited by the country’s Foreign Ministry but did not immediately provide further details, including whether he would meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Lavrov’s visit follows a June trip by Russia’s top security official, Sergei Shoigu , who met Kim in Pyongyang before saying the North had decided to send thousands of military construction workers and deminers to Russia’s Kursk region to help rebuild the war-torn area.

An assessment by South Korea’s spy agency said the dispatch will take place as early as during July or August.

Kim has sent thousands of combat troops and large supplies of military equipment to help prolong Russia’s war efforts against Ukraine , including artillery and ballistic missiles. The North Korean announcement came as Lavrov was headed to Malaysia for a meeting of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Some South Korean analysts say Lavrov may discuss arranging a visit by Kim to Russia.

Lavrov last visited North Korea in June 2024, when he accompanied President Vladimir Putin to a summit with Kim in Pyongyang. The leaders signed a strategic partnership agreement pledging mutual aid if either country faces aggression.

Pyongyang and Moscow both denied North Korean involvement in the war in Ukraine until April, when they simultaneously acknowledged North Korean soldiers had fought alongside Russian forces to repel a Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk border region.

The two countries have not disclosed how many North Korean soldiers were deployed in Russia, but South Korea, US and Ukraine officials said North Korea sent about 10,000 to 12,000 troops to Russia in the fall of last year. South Korea said North Korea deployed about 3,000 to 4,000 additional soldiers to Russia earlier this year.

US, South Korean and Japanese officials have expressed concerns that Kim could seek major technology transfers from Russia in return, which would potentially enhance the threat posed by his military nuclear program.

CNN —

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un Saturday in a sign of deepening relations between Moscow and Pyongyang as the latter gets pulled deeper into Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Russia’s foreign ministry posted a photo of the two leaders on Telegram Saturday in the North Korean city of Wonsan on the country’s eastern coast. Lavrov arrived in North Korea on Friday for the start of a three-day visit.

Lavrov also met with his North Korean counterpart Choe Son Hui in Wonson Saturday, Russia’s foreign ministry said on Telegram.

“We exchanged views on the situation surrounding the Ukrainian crisis,” Lavrov was quoted as saying by Russian state media agency TASS at a press conference following that meeting. “Our Korean friends confirmed their firm support for all the objectives of the special military operation, as well as for the actions of the Russian leadership and armed forces.”

On Wednesday, Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for Russia’s foreign ministry, said Lavrov would visit North Korea for talks that were part of “the second round of strategic dialogue” between the countries’ top diplomats, according to TASS.

North Korea’s state news agency, KCNA, also reported Wednesday that Lavrov would be visiting “at the invitation of” Pyongyang’s foreign ministry.

Lavrov’s trip comes at a crucial time for Russian-North Korean relations, with Pyongyang set to deploy an additional 25,000 to 30,000 soldiers to assist Moscow’s scaled-up assault on Ukraine, according to Ukrainian intelligence – adding to the estimated 11,000 soldiers Pyongyang sent last year.

It also comes as the US has grown increasingly frustrated with Russia. US President Donald Trump has accused his counterpart Vladimir Putin of throwing “bullsh*t” at peace talks, and pledged more support for Ukraine.

The trip could further strengthen an alliance that has the potential to reshape not only the war in Ukraine but the security dynamic in Asia.

Choe Son Hui visited Moscow for the first round of strategic talks in November 2024, according to TASS. At the time, Lavrov praised what he called “very close contacts” with the North Korean military and intelligence services.

Footage circulated online on October 18, 2024, shows North Korean troops at a training range in Sergeyevka, Primorsky Krai, Russia. EyePress News/Reuters

Despite sustaining heavy battlefield losses, North Korea has become increasingly integrated into Russia’s war. An estimated 4,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded in Russia, according to Western officials.

On the ground in the Russian border region of Kursk, where North Korean soldiers helped repel Ukraine’s incursion last year, the reclusive state’s soldiers are reportedly living in dugouts, fighting – and dying – alongside Russian troops.

Satellite images obtained by CNN showed cargo planes and troop transport ships moving between North Korea and Russia, hinting at major military logistics underway.

Facing shortages on the front line, even as its own factories work round-the-clock, Russia has become reliant on North Korea for additional weaponry.

Training manuals for North Korean artillery have been translated into Russian, in a sign of both the ubiquity of the weapons and the increasing interoperability between Moscow’s and Pyongyang’s armed forces. A report from 11 UN member states last month said that Pyongyang sent at least 100 ballistic missiles and 9 million artillery shells to Russia in 2024.

Russia has intensified its aerial assault on Ukraine in recent weeks, launching a record 728 drones and 13 missiles Wednesday. On Thursday, Russian drones attacked the capital Kyiv from all directions in an apparent new tactic that tested Ukraine’s strained defenses.

Seoul, South Korea CNN —

North Korea’s newest warship was severely damaged during a recent launch ceremony, with leader Kim Jong Un, who witnessed the accident, saying it brought shame to the nation’s prestige and vowing to punish those found responsible, state media reported.

In a rare admission of failure, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said a malfunction in the launch mechanism caused the stern of the as-yet unnamed 5,000-ton destroyer to slide prematurely into the water on Wednesday, crushing parts of the hull and leaving the bow stranded on the shipway.

Kim called the launch failure “a criminal act” and blamed it on “absolute carelessness” and “irresponsibility” by multiple state institutions – including the Munitions Industry Department, Kim Chaek University of Technology and the central ship design bureau.

Law enforcement have detained three people “for legal investigation” over the incident, including the chief engineer of the shipyard, state media KCNA reported Sunday, citing the group in charge of investigating the botched launch.

Satellite imagery showed the vessel lying on its side, the stern in the water, and the bow still on land. State media did not immediately release images of the accident.

Naval analysts said the damage incurred by a vessel in such a launch malfunction could be “catastrophic.”

This satellite image shows North Korea’s second-newest destroyer in Chongjin shipyard, North Korea, on May 18, 2025, just days before it was damaged due to “serious accident” during a launching ceremony Maxar Technologies

“If the ship does not move together, the stresses will tear the hull apart,” Sal Mercogliano, a professor at Campbell University in North Carolina and a maritime expert, told CNN.

Naval analyst Carl Schuster in Hawaii, after reviewing the KCNA account, said he thinks the stresses would “warp the hull, induce cracks and (possibly) snap the keel depending on where the greatest stress falls.”

The launch failure marks a setback for what analysts have viewed as North Korea’s most ambitious naval modernization effort in decades.

The ship was to be the second major navy surface vessel revealed in quick succession by North Korea. In April, Kim unveiled the Choe Hyon, the country’s first newly constructed destroyer in decades, and declared his ambition of building more destroyers and various cruisers and frigates.

The Choe Hyon, described as a “new generation” warship, was presented with significant fanfare with state media saying it would strengthen naval readiness amid what Pyongyang calls rising threats from the United States and South Korea.

Western defense analysts noted that the Choe Hyon marked a departure from the aging Soviet-era vessels that dominated the Korean People’s Navy. While details remain scarce, satellite imagery and footage suggested the Choe Hyon could share design elements with similar Russian navy ships.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) spokesperson Lee Sung-joon said the vessel damaged on Wednesday was thought to be equipped like the Choe Hyon.

Wednesday’s incident could cast doubt on the country’s ability to scale its navy. Kim said the damage would be addressed not only through technical repairs, but political accountability.

He ordered the destroyer to be restored before the late June plenary session of the ruling Workers’ Party, calling the matter one of national honor.

KCNA reported Friday that the damage to the warship was less than North Korea’s initial estimate, saying there were no holes in the hull, although it was scratched along the starboard side. It also said “a certain amount of seawater flowed into the stern section.”

Repairs could take about 10 days, the report said.

However, considering the potential degree of damage, analysts said that it would be nearly impossible to meet Kim’s late June deadline for repairs.

The ship “will not be entering Korean Peoples’ Navy (KPN) service anytime soon and may ultimately prove to be a complete loss,” experts from the Center for Strategic and International Studies wrote in their Beyond Parallel blog alongside satellite photos of the floundering vessel.

Retired South Korean Adm. Kim Duk-ki told CNN that North Korea appeared to lack the necessary infrastructure – a dry dock – to launch a 5,000-ton destroyer, let alone recover and repair it.

A dry dock is a basin facility that can be filled with water to float a ship or drain out to build or repair one.

Satellite image shows North Korea’s second-newest destroyer in Chongjin Shipyard, North Korea, on May 12, 2025, just days before it was damaged in a ‘serious accident’ during a launching ceremony. Airbus

“Dry dock is an expensive facility, and North Korea probably doesn’t have one… It’s easy to repair a ship in a dry dock after draining water, but they don’t have the facility,” the retired admiral said, adding that restoration could take over four to five months.

South Korean lawmaker and defense analyst Yu Yong-weon said rushing the launch of the ship likely led to the problems encountered on Wednesday and warned hasty repairs could cause more problems down the line.

Schuster said repairs, if possible, are more likely to take months, rather than weeks.

An accident investigation group has been formed, and senior officials may face censure at the upcoming Party Central Committee meeting, an account from KCNA reported.

North Korea’s navy is often seen as the least developed branch of its military. The hastened pace of destroyer development has surprised some outside observers, raising questions about how much of the technology is functional versus symbolic.

Mercogliano, the US professor, said it’s unclear whether Pyongyang’s new warships even have engines as state media has provided no images of them underway.

This story has been updated with additional information.

Chinese authorities in the northeastern city of Shenyang reportedly arrested a North Korean IT specialist in late April 2025, accusing him of stealing drone technology secrets.

The suspect, apparently linked to North Korea’s main missile development agency, was part of a wider network operating in China, according to the story, which first appeared in South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency. In response, Pyongyang was said to have recalled IT personnel in China.

The story was later circulated by several Chinese online outlets. Given the tight censorship in China, this implies a degree of tacit editorial approval from Beijing – although some sites later deleted the story. In a response to Yonhap over the alleged incident, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson noted that North Korea and China were “friendly neighbors” that maintained “normal” personnel exchanges, without denying the details.

The incident suggests a rare semipublic spat between the two neighboring communist countries, contradicting the image of China and North Korea as “brothers in arms.”

As a scholar of Northeast Asian security, I see the arrest – which has gotten little attention in English-language media – as representative of a wider, more nuanced picture of the two countries’ current relations. There are signs that Beijing is growing frustrated with Pyongyang – not least over North Korea’s increasing closeness with Moscow. Such a development challenges China’s traditional role as North Korea’s primary patron.

In short, the arrest could be a symptom of worsening ties between the two countries.

Beijing’s dilemma over North Korea

North Korea has long been seen by Beijing as both a strategic security buffer and within its natural sphere of influence.

From China’s perspective, allowing a hostile force to gain control of the peninsula – and especially the north – could open the door to future military threats. This fear partly explained why China intervened during the Korean War of 1950-1953.

Beyond security, North Korea also serves as an ideological ally. Both countries are run by communist parties — the Chinese Communist Party and the Workers’ Party of Korea — although the former operates as a Leninist party-state system with a partial embrace of market capitalism, while the latter remains a rigid socialist state characterized by a strong personality cult.

Even today, Chinese state media continues to highlight the bonds of “comradeship” with Pyongyang.

However, Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions have long troubled Beijing. North Korea has conducted multiple nuclear tests since 2006 and is now believed to possess nuclear weapons capable of targeting South Korea, Japan and U.S. bases in the region.

China supports a denuclearized and stable Korean peninsula – both for regional peace and economic growth. Like the U.S., Japan and South Korea, China opposes nuclear proliferation, fearing North Korea’s periodic tests could provoke U.S. military action or trigger an arms race in the region.

Meanwhile, Washington and its allies continue to pressure Beijing to do more to rein in a neighbor it often views as a vassal state of China.

Given China’s economic ties with the U.S. and Washington’s East Asian allies – mainly South Korea and Japan – it has every reason to avoid further instability from Pyongyang.

Yet to North Korea’s isolationist rulers, nuclear weapons are vital for the regime’s survival and independence. What’s more, nuclear weapons can also limit Beijing’s influence.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un worries that without nuclear leverage, China could try to interfere in the internal affairs of his country. After the death if Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il, in 2011, Beijing was thought to favor Kim Jong Un’s elder half-brother Kim Jong Nam as successor — possibly prompting Kim Jong Un to have him assassinated in 2017.

But despite ongoing tensions over the nuclear issue, China has continued to support the North Korean regime for strategic reasons.

For decades, China has been Pyongyang’s top trading partner, providing crucial economic aid. In 2023, China accounted for about 98% of North Korea’s official trade and continued to supply food and fuel to keep the regime afloat.

Pyongyang pals up with Putin

Yet over the past few years, more of North Korea’s imports, notably oil, have come from another source: Russia.

North Korea and Russia had been close allies during the Cold War, but ties cooled after the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s.

More recently, a shared hostility toward the U.S. and the West in general has brought the two nations closer.

Moscow’s international isolation following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine and its deteriorating ties with South Korea in particular have pushed it toward Pyongyang. North Korea has reportedly supplied large quantities of ammunition to Russia, becoming a critical munitions supplier in the Ukraine war.

Though both governments deny the arms trade – banned under United Nations sanctions – North Korea is thought to have received fuel, food and access to Russian military and space technology in return. On March 8, 2025, North Korea unveiled a nuclear-powered submarine that experts believe may involve Russian technological assistance.

By 2024, Russian forces were using around 10,000 shells per day in Ukraine, with half sourced from North Korea. Some front-line units were reportedly using North Korean ammunition for up to 60% of their firepower.

High-level visits have also increased. In July 2023, Russia’s defense minister, Andrey Belousov, visited Pyongyang for the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice, followed by Kim Jong Un’s visit to Russia in September for a summit with President Vladimir Putin.

In June 2024, Putin visited Pyongyang, where the two countries signed a comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement, including a pledge that each would come to the other’s aid if attacked.

Soon after, North Korea began sending troops to support Russia. Intelligence from the U.S., South Korea and Ukraine indicates that Pyongyang deployed 10,000 to 12,000 soldiers in late 2023, marking its first involvement in a major conflict since the Korean War. North Korean soldiers reportedly receive at least US$2,000 per month plus a bonus. For Pyongyang, this move not only provides financial gain but also combat experience should war ever reignite on the Korean Peninsula.

Why China is worried

China, too, has remained on friendly terms with Russia since the war in Ukraine began. So why would it feel uneasy about the growing closeness between Pyongyang and Moscow?

For starters, China views Pyongyang’s outreach to Moscow as a challenge to its traditional role as North Korea’s main patron. While still dependent on Chinese aid, North Korea appears to be seeking greater autonomy.

The strengthening of Russia–North Korea ties also fuels Western fears of an “axis of upheaval” involving all three countries.

Unlike North Korea’s confrontational stance toward the West and its neighbor to the south, Beijing has offered limited support to Moscow during the Ukraine war and is cautious not to appear part of a trilateral alliance.

Behind this strategy is a desire on behalf of China to maintain stable relations with the U.S., Europe and key Asian neighbors like Japan and South Korea. Doing so may be the best way for Beijing to protect its economic and diplomatic interests.

China is also concerned that with Russian support in nuclear and missile technologies, Pyongyang may act more provocatively — through renewed nuclear tests or military clashes with South Korea. And this would only destabilize the region and strain China’s ties with the West.

A defiant and provocative Pyongyang

The timing of the alleged spy drama may offer further clues regarding the state of relations.

It came just a day after North Korea officially confirmed it had deployed troops to aid the Russian war effort. It also announced plans to erect a monument in Pyongyang honoring its soldiers who died in the Ukraine war.

The last spy case like this was in June 2016 when Chinese authorities arrested a North Korean citizen in the border city of Dandong. It reportedly followed Pyongyang informing China that it would permanently pursue its nuclear weapons program.

The China-North Korea relationship deteriorated further when North Korea successfully tested a hydrogen bomb in September 2016, prompting Beijing to back U.N. Security Council sanctions against Pyongyang.

Again, this time North Korea shows little sign of bending to China’s will. On April 30, Kim oversaw missile launches from North Korea’s first 5,000-ton destroyer, touted as its most heavily armed warship.

None of which will help ease Beijing’s concerns. While China still sees Pyongyang as a critical buffer against U.S. influence in Northeast Asia, an increasingly provocative North Korea, fueled by a growing relationship with Russia, is starting to look less like a strategic asset — and more like a liability.