Kim Jong-un reportedly heading to Russia to meet Putin

The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, appears to have departed for Russia by train for a meeting with Vladimir Putin, South Korean media reported, amid concerns in the west that Pyongyang plans to provide weapons to Moscow to use in the war against Ukraine.

According to the South Korean broadcaster YTN, an armoured train carrying Kim was headed on Monday to North Korea’s north-eastern border, with a meeting likely to be held in the Russian port city of Vladivostok as early as Tuesday.

Earlier on Monday, the Russian news agency Interfax reported Kim was expected to visit the far east “in the coming days”.

The White House said last week it had intelligence that showed Russia was looking to purchase additional artillery shells from North Korea to shore up its defence industrial base.​​

US officials also said the two countries were arranging a meeting between their leaders that would take place this month. The US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told reporters that North Korea “will pay a price” for supplying Russia with weapons to use in Ukraine.

North Korea has previously been accused by the US of selling artillery shells to the Russian mercenary group Wagner.

The US, Britain, South Korea and Japan have said that any arms deal between North Korea and Russia would violate UN security council resolutions.

The trip, if confirmed, would be Kim’s first visit abroad in more than four years and the first since the Covid-19 pandemic.

The meeting between the two leaders could take place at the Eastern Economic Forum, an annual economic conference scheduled to run until 13 September on the campus of the Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok.

The Kremlin on Monday said Putin had arrived in Vladivostok for a two-day visit to the forum.

Kim and Putin, who first met in 2019, are seeking greater military and economic cooperation to counter their growing international isolation prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and North Korea’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programmes.

In July, Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, travelled to Pyongyang, where he toured a defence exhibition that featured the country’s banned ballistic missiles

Analysts believe North Korea has extensive supply of artillery shells, rockets and small arms ammunition that could help Russia replenish the military stocks it has expended in more than 18 months of war in Ukraine. In return, Moscow could share its advanced technology for satellites and nuclear-powered submarines.