Russian Security Chief In Pyongyang For Meeting With Kim Jong-un

Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu arrived in North Korea today, where he is expected to meet with leaders of the Pyongyang regime, Russian state media reported.

According to Russian state news agencies TASS and RIA Novosti, Shoigu will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in yet another sign of the growing rapprochement between the two countries.

According to TASS, Shoigu, a former defense minister, began the visit by laying a wreath at a monument to Soviet soldiers who liberated the northern Korean peninsula from Japanese occupation at the end of World War II.

The visit comes four days after North Korea sent its first government delegation of the year to Russia, led by Foreign Economic Affairs Minister Yun Jong-ho, to discuss cooperation as part of a possible ceasefire in Ukraine.

"The delegation, consisting of more than 20 people, includes not only officials from various ministries and entities, but also representatives of the North Korean business community," the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang reported at the time on the Telegram messaging platform.

The visit came two days after North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui received a Russian diplomatic delegation headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko.

Rudenko met with his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-gyu, with whom he agreed to continue taking practical steps to strengthen bilateral cooperation, in light of the comprehensive strategic partnership treaty signed by the two countries' leaders, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un, in June.

The treaty provides for mutual military assistance in the event of an attack.

It was the first visit by Russian diplomats to North Korea since June, when they accompanied President Putin on a trip to Pyongyang.

South Korean intelligence said in February that North Korea was sending additional troops after sending about 11,000 soldiers to fight alongside Russian military forces in the conflict in Ukraine.

South Korea said it had detected signs that Pyongyang had sent about 1,000 extra troops this year.