Putin and North Korea’s foreign minister discuss strengthening ties

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that his country’s ties with North Korea were developing “as planned”, as he hosted North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui in the Kremlin.

Choe passed on “warm wishes” from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un after she had earlier hailed the “spiritual closeness” between Moscow and Pyongyang during a meeting with her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

The visit is the latest in a flurry of diplomatic exchanges between the two countries and comes just days after Kim pledged to advance military ties with Moscow.

Here’s what we know about relations between the two countries.

Russia-North Korea military ties

North Korea, one of the world’s most diplomatically isolated nations, has deepened cooperation with Russia since Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022.