Top Russian security official holds talks with North Korea's Kim for second time in two weeks
Top Russian security official holds talks with North Korea's Kim for second time in two weeks
PYONGYANG - Mr Sergei Shoigu, a senior Russian security official, held talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for the second time in two weeks on June 17 and said he was carrying out "special instructions" from President Vladimir Putin.
Mr Shoigu, secretary of Russia's Security Council and a former defence minister with close ties to Mr Putin, previously visited Pyongyang and met Mr Kim on March 21 and June 4 as Moscow and Pyongyang draw closer together in the face of what they say is a hostile West.
Russia's state Rossiiskaya Gazeta, which said Mr Shoigu and Mr Kim were holding wide-ranging security consultations on June 17, published a video of Mr Kim - wearing a traditional Mao suit - hugging Mr Shoigu on arrival before accompanying him to a hall with a long negotiating table.
"Two weeks have passed, and we are meeting again," said Mr Kim, before chuckling.
"The president's instruction must be fulfilled," replied Mr Shoigu, who quickly agreed when Mr Kim said Mr Shoigu's frequent visits showed that ties between Moscow and Pyongyang were getting stronger.
In a message last week, Mr Kim called Mr Putin his "dearest comrade" and praised their bilateral relations as a "genuine relationship between comrades-in-arms" - a reference to the role of North Korean troops who Moscow said helped it drive Ukrainian forces out of Russia's western Kursk region in 2024.
Mr Shoigu was given the red carpet treatment in Pyongyang and met off his plane by an honour guard and Marshal Pak Jong-chon, who occupies the second most powerful position in the secretive North Korean military.
'Special instructions from Putin'
"Sergei Shoigu arrived in Pyongyang on special instructions from Russian President Vladimir Putin," a statement from Russia's Security Council said.
"These agreements are being implemented within the framework of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty."
Mr Kim and Mr Putin signed the strategic partnership treaty in June 2024, which included a mutual defence pact.
Moscow later referenced the agreement when explaining the deployment of North Korean soldiers to Kursk.
Rossiiskaya Gazeta said Mr Shoigu's talks earlier in June had, among other things, focused on proposals to commemorate the role of the North Korean troops.
British military intelligence said this week that North Korean troops had suffered more than 6,000 casualties in Kursk. North Korea has not disclosed its losses.
The US and South Korea say North Korea has shipped ballistic missiles, anti-tank rockets and millions of rounds of ammunition for Russia to use in its war against Ukraine.
Moscow and Pyongyang have denied weapons transfers.
A Reuters investigation in April 2025 found that millions of North Korean shells had made their way to the front lines in massive shipments by sea and then by train.
Russia said in June the two countries planned to shortly restart a direct passenger train service between Moscow and Pyongyang for the first time since 2020, a journey which at over 10,000km it said was the world's longest direct rail trip. REUTERS
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
36 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Iranian retaliation against US forces could come soon, US officials say
Iranian retaliation against US forces could come soon, US officials say Follow our live coverage here. WASHINGTON - The United States believes Iran could carry out retaliatory attacks targeting American forces in the Middle East soon, although the US is still seeking a diplomatic resolution that would see Tehran forgo any attack, two US officials said on June 23. One of the officials, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity to discuss the assessment, said Iran's retaliatory attack could happen within the next day or two. Iran has threatened to retaliate after US bombed its nuclear sites over the weekend. US officials have warned Iran against hitting back at the US and President Donald Trump said after the strikes that any retaliation by Iran against the US would be met with a force far greater than that used in the weekend US attacks. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, said on June 22 that the US military had increased protection of troops in the region, including in Iraq and Syria. The United States has a sizeable force deployed to the Middle East, with nearly 40,000 troops in the region. Some of them operate air defense systems, fighter aircraft and warships that can detect and shoot down incoming enemy missiles but their positions are vulnerable to attack. Reuters reported last week that the Pentagon had moved some aircraft and ships from bases in the Middle East that may be vulnerable to any potential Iranian attack. That included aircraft being removed from the 24-hectare Al Udeid Air Base, in the desert outside the capital Doha. It is Middle East's largest US base and houses around 10,000 troops. Tehran has vowed to defend itself and retaliate. But, perhaps in an effort to avert all-out war with the United States, it had yet to target US bases or choke off a quarter of the world's oil shipments that pass through its waters by closing the Strait of Hormuz. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
37 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Explainer-What are the limits to the UN nuclear watchdog's oversight in Iran?
FILE PHOTO: The IAEA flag flutters outside their headquarters after the first day of the agency's quarterly Board of Governors meeting at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria, June 9, 2025. REUTERS/Lisa Leutner/ File Photo Explainer-What are the limits to the UN nuclear watchdog's oversight in Iran? VIENNA - The U.N. nuclear watchdog, which polices the global nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, has not been able to carry out inspections in Iran since Israel launched military strikes on its nuclear facilities on June 13. Below is an outline of the International Atomic Energy Agency's inspection powers. DOES THE IAEA HAVE UNIVERSAL JURISDICTION? No. The IAEA's oversight is limited to the 191 states that are signatories to the NPT, and other countries it has separate arrangements with. Iran is a party to the NPT and thus subject to IAEA oversight including inspections meant to ensure that no nuclear material such as uranium is "diverted" for use in atomic bombs. Israel is not a party to the NPT and is the only country in the Middle East widely believed to have nuclear weapons. Israel does not confirm or deny having them. It has a limited safeguards agreement with the IAEA that provides for the agency to oversee some materials and facilities - a fraction of what Israel has and not any of what is widely believed to be its nuclear weapons programme. Iran, by contrast, has a Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement (CSA) with the IAEA under which it must account for all its proliferation-sensitive nuclear material, including every gram of enriched uranium. CAN THE IAEA GO ANYWHERE, ANYTIME IN IRAN? No. It is largely restricted to inspecting Iran's declared nuclear installations as provided for by its 1974 CSA - sites such as the three uranium enrichment plants at Natanz and Fordow that were operating until Israel bombed them on June 13. It had regular access to those facilities until they were attacked. Since then, they have been "closed" and inspectors have not been allowed in, the IAEA has said, adding that it hopes its inspectors will return as soon as possible. HAS THE IAEA HAD GREATER POWERS BEFORE? Yes. A 2015 deal between Iran and major powers placed strict limits on Tehran's nuclear activities but also extended the IAEA's oversight to parts of Iran's nuclear programme not covered by the CSA, such as its production and stock of centrifuges, the machines that enrich uranium. It was the most comprehensive IAEA oversight of any country. Much of that additional oversight came from Iran agreeing, as part of the 2015 pact, to apply the Additional Protocol, an add-on to countries' CSAs that the IAEA developed to strengthen its hand in preventing nuclear proliferation. Iran has signed but never ratified the Additional Protocol. One of the most important extra tools the Additional Protocol gives the IAEA is the power to carry out snap inspections - short-notice access to locations including ones that Iran has not declared to be nuclear-related. WHY DOES IT NO LONGER HAVE SUCH SWEEPING POWERS? In 2018, during his first term, President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the 2015 nuclear deal, reimposing U.S. sanctions on Iran that had been lifted as part of the agreement. In retaliation, as of the following year, Iran began pushing past the deal's limits on its nuclear activities but also scaled back the extra IAEA oversight introduced by the deal. In February 2021 Iran said it would no longer carry out its extra commitments under the 2015 deal, including implementation of the Additional Protocol. It struck a deal with the IAEA to keep monitoring equipment like surveillance cameras added under the deal rolling, but ordered them all removed in June 2022. WHAT WAS LOST WITH THE EXTRA OVERSIGHT? Reducing the IAEA's oversight not only took away the important tool of snap inspections. It also left blind spots in the areas to which extra oversight had been applied. The IAEA now says it has lost so-called "continuity of knowledge" for so many years that it will never be able to fully piece together what happened in areas including the production and inventory of centrifuges and certain key centrifuge parts, as well as Iran's stock of "yellowcake" - uranium that has not been enriched. The fact many centrifuges are unaccounted for means it cannot be ruled out that they will be used to enrich uranium in secret at an undeclared facility. Such a facility would be easy to hide in a relatively small building such as a warehouse. The IAEA says it cannot guarantee Iran's nuclear activity is entirely for peaceful purposes but it also has no credible indications of a coordinated nuclear weapons programme. WHAT IF IRAN PULLS OUT OF THE NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY? Iran has threatened to pull out of the NPT, while at the same time saying it would not develop nuclear weapons if it did. Tehran has complained that the treaty and non-proliferation regime failed to protect it from attack by a country with a nuclear arsenals, the United States, and another widely believed to have one, Israel. The NPT allows for withdrawal by a party at three months' notice "if it decides that extraordinary events, related to the subject matter of this Treaty, have jeopardized the supreme interests of its country". The only country to announce its withdrawal from the NPT is North Korea in 2003, which expelled IAEA inspectors before testing nuclear weapons. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Greenpeace joins protests against gala Jeff Bezos wedding in Venice
A large banner against Amazon founder Jeff Bezos lies on the ground, placed by Greenpeace Italy activists along with others in St. Mark's Square. PHOTO: REUTERS VENICE - Global environmental lobby Greenpeace added its voice on June 23 to protests against this week's celebrity wedding in Venice between American tech billionaire Jeff Bezos and journalist Laura Sanchez. The event, expected to attract some 200 guests including US President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner, as well as scores of stars from film, fashion and business, has been dubbed "the wedding of the century". But some locals see the celebration as the latest sign of the brash commodification of a beautiful but fragile city that has long been overrun with tourism while steadily depopulating. Activists from Greenpeace Italy and UK group "Everyone hates Elon" (Musk) unfolded a giant banner in central St Mark's Square with a picture of Mr Bezos laughing and a sign reading: "If you can rent Venice for your wedding you can pay more tax." Local police arrived to talk to activists and check their identification documents, before they rolled up their banner. "The problem is not the wedding, the problem is the system. We think that one big billionaire can't rent a city for his pleasure," Ms Simona Abbate, one of the protesters, told Reuters. Mayor Luigi Brugnaro and regional governor Luca Zaia have defended the wedding, arguing that it will bring an economic windfall to local businesses, including the motor boats and gondolas that operate its myriad canals. Mr Zaia said the celebrations were expected to cost €20 million (S$29.65 million) to €30 million. Mr Bezos will also make sizeable charity donations, including €1 million for Corila, an academic consortium that studies Venice's lagoon ecosystem, Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper and the Ansa news agency reported on June 22. Earlier in June, anti-Bezos banners were hung from St Mark's bell tower and from the famed Rialto bridge, while locals threatened peaceful blockades against the event, saying Venice needed public services and housing, not VIPs and over-tourism. The exact dates and locations of the glitzy nuptials are being kept confidential, but celebrations are expected to play out over three days, most likely around June 26-28. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
