Putin’s top security adviser arrives in North Korea amid dramatic advances in security ties

Sergei Shoigu plans to meet Kim Jong Un

Russian president Vladimir Putin's top security adviser Sergei Shoigu has landed in North Korea and plans to meet its leader Kim Jong Un, the TASS news agency reported on Friday, his latest visit amid dramatic advances in security relations between the two countries.

The TASS report did not provide further details and North Korea's state media did not report on Mr Shoigu's arrival.

Mr Shoigu, Russia’s defence minister until last May and secretary of the Security Council since then, had earlier made visits to Pyongyang as North Korea allegedly geared up to deploy soldiers to fight for Russia in its war against Ukraine.

American and South Korean officials have claimed that North Korea has deployed nearly 11,000 troops, who were sent into combat in Russia's Kursk region, and also shipped heavy weapons including artillery and ballistic missiles.

Russian forces have been fighting off a Ukrainian incursion in Kursk since last August and are reportedly close to retaking it.

North Korea is believed to have received military and civilian technology as well as economic assistance from Moscow in return.

Neither Pyongyang nor Moscow has acknowledged Pyongyang's deployment of troops and weapons in the war against Ukraine but said that they have continued to implement a strategic partnership treaty signed by Mr Putin and Mr Kim in June 2024 that includes a mutual defence pact.

The pact obligates each country to come to the other’s aid in the event of an attack.