Russia’s foreign minister was seen hugging Kim Jong Un today as he thanked North Korea for sending troops to the Ukraine war.
Speaking in Wonsan, a glitzy new beach resort in North Korea, Sergey Lavrov also encouraged his fellow Russians to visit the rogue state on holiday.
Relations between North Korea and Russia have flourished in recent years with Kim suppling troops and ammunition to Ukraine’s frontlines in return for economic and military help.
This has raised concerns in the West that Russia might also send sensitive technologies to North Korea that could increase the danger of its nuclear program.
As well as a meeting with Kim, foreign minister Lavrov also held talks today with his North Korean counterpart Choe Son Hui.
During their meeting, Choe reiterated that North Korea ‘unconditionally’ supports Russia’s fight against Ukraine.
Lavrov, meanwhile, repeated Russia’s gratitude for the contribution that North Korean troops made in efforts to repel a Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk region.
Wonsan city, the meeting venue, is where North Korea recently opened a mammoth beach resort that it says can accommodate nearly 20,000 people.
In his comments at the start of his meeting with Choe, Lavrov said that ‘I am sure that Russian tourists will be increasingly eager to come here.
‘We will do everything we can to facilitate this, creating conditions for this, including air travel,’ according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The Wonsan-Kalma tourist zone is at the center of Kim’s push to boost tourism as a way to improve his country’s troubled economy.
However, prospects for the tourist complex aren’t clear, as North Korea appears unlikely to fully reopen its borders and embrace Western tourists anytime soon.
Speaking with reporters after the meeting, Lavrov went on to accuse the US, South Korea and Japan of ‘military buildups’ around the strictly-controlled state.
‘We warn against exploiting these ties to build alliances directed against anyone, including North Korea and, of course, Russia,’ he said, according to Russia’s state Tass news agency.
The US, South Korea and Japan have been expanding or restoring their trilateral military exercises in response to North Korea’s advancing nuclear program.
On Friday, the three countries held a joint air drill involving US nuclear-capable bombers near the Korean Peninsula.
It came as their top military officers met in Seoul and urged North Korea to stop all illegal activities that threaten regional security.
North Korea views major US-led military drills as invasion rehearsals.
It has long argued that it’s forced to develop nuclear weapons to defend itself from U.S. military threats.
Lavrov said Russia understands North Korea’s decision to seek nuclear weapons.
‘The technologies used by North Korea are the result of the work of its own scientists,’ Lavrov said, according to Tass.
‘We respect North Korea’s aspirations and understand the reasons why it is pursuing nuclear development.’
