In the Kremlin on the 4th, North Korea’s Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui was treated with special regard, reflecting North Korea’s dispatch of troops. On this day, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui unexpectedly. According to reports from TASS and Sputnik, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that President Putin received Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, who was on a working visit to Russia, at the Kremlin. The video released by the Kremlin showed President Putin welcoming Foreign Minister Choe warmly and shaking hands with her for about a minute while engaging in conversation.
Foreign Minister Choe expressed gratitude to President Putin for taking the time to meet with her. President Putin mentioned that the day was a Russian public holiday called “National Unity Day,” and said, “Meeting a friend on a holiday is a very nice tradition,” warmly welcoming her.
Further, Foreign Minister Choe conveyed greetings from Chairman Kim Jong-un, to which President Putin responded, “I wish him (Chairman Kim) well.”
Previously, on October 29th, Peskov had stated that there were no plans for President Putin to meet Foreign Minister Choe. This surprise meeting is interpreted as President Putin’s ‘special treatment’ in connection with North Korea’s recent troop dispatch.
While the Kremlin did not disclose the contents of the conversation between President Putin and Foreign Minister Choe, it is believed that they discussed not only the issue of North Korean troop dispatch but also the possible return visit of Chairman Kim to Russia.
Meanwhile, North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency reported that Foreign Minister Choe departed Pyongyang on October 28th to visit Russia. During her meeting on November 1st with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for a ‘strategic dialogue,’ Foreign Minister Choe expressed North Korea’s support for Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, stating they would always stand with their Russian comrades until victory.