Vladivostok: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Russia’s Pacific port city of Vladivostok on Wednesday for a first summit with Vladimir Putin, as Pyongyang seeks support in its nuclear deadlock with the United States.
The talks, organised in secret and announced at the last minute, will be Kim’s first face-to-face meeting with another head of state since negotiations with US President Donald Trump in Hanoi collapsed in February.
Kim’s armoured train arrived in the afternoon at the Tsarist-era train station in Vladivostok and he stepped out onto a red carpet before making his way outside to be received by an honour guard. “I hope that this visit will be successful and useful,” Kim told Russian television in the Russian town of Khasan where his train crossed the border.
“I hope that during the talks… I will be able to have concrete discussions on resolving situations on the Korean Peninsula and on the development of our bilateral relationship,” Kim said. Putin was due to arrive in Vladivostok on Thursday, then fly on after the talks for another summit in Beijing.
The North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) earlier reported Kim’s departure by train, naming among his entourage foreign minister Ri Yong Ho. The train crossed the Tumen river Wednesday and arrived in Khasan, where women in folk costumes welcomed Kim with bread and salt in a traditional greeting.
Kim’s predecessors as leader, his father and grandfather, also stopped there on their trips to neighbouring Russia. At Khasan station a small wooden building known as the House of Kim Il Sung commemorates Russian-Korean friendship.
Russian and North Korean flags were already flying on lamp posts Tuesday on Vladivostok’s Russky island, where the summit is expected to take place at a university campus. Kim plans to stay on in Vladivostok on Friday for a series of cultural events, including a ballet and a visit to the city’s aquarium, Russian media reported. (AFP)
