“More specifically, I would suggest that the visit may be aimed at preparing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Pyongyang. As you know, he received such an invitation from Kim Jong Un last year,” Lukin said.
“We see that work is currently underway to resume and intensify economic cooperation, which in recent years was practically frozen - first due to sanctions against the DPRK, which Russia joined, then due to the COVID-19 pandemic, when the DPRK closed its borders,” Artyom Lukin noted.
“We already see that our tourists are starting to go to North Korea. Already in early February, the first tour group will be traveling to a North Korean ski resort,” Lukin added.
“North Korea also has serious motivation for rapprochement with Russia. It lies in the fact that, in my opinion, it also feels increasingly ill at ease in its own region. South Korea continues to build up its military potential, the alliance between Seoul and Washington is strengthening, and a trilateral alliance is being formed between South Korea, Japan and the US,” Lukin pointed out.
“Two key questions are: how to build our cooperation and develop it in the context of ongoing sanctions, and use all the opportunities that exist in this regard. The second issue is to take a closer look at the situation in the Indo-Pacific region and think about how we will respond in practice to beefed up military presence of Washington and its allies near our borders," Zhebin stressed.