Choe Son Hui Lands in Moscow for Talks With Lavrov
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- Choe Son Hui arrived in Moscow on July 19 for talks with Sergei Lavrov, departing Pyongyang on July 18 aboard "her personal plane" per state-run KCNA.
- North Korea has sent missiles, munitions and thousands of troops to assist Russia in Ukraine, with Moscow providing financial aid, military technology, food and energy in return.
- Russia and North Korea signed a defence agreement during Putin's June 2024 visit to Pyongyang; in April, Andrei Belousov visited Pyongyang and said Moscow was ready to sign a 2027–2031 cooperation plan.
- Kim Jong Un pledged in April to help Russia win its "sacred" war in Ukraine, a direct commitment tying Pyongyang's prestige to Moscow's battlefield.
- South Korea and the European Union have condemned the partnership; North Korea's Foreign Ministry fired back that the cooperation is an "exercise of sovereign rights".
Why it matters: The Choe-Lavrov meeting operationalizes a partnership formalized by Putin's June 2024 Pyongyang visit, with Russian Defence Minister Belousov already floating a 2027–2031 cooperation plan in April. North Korea's flow of troops and munitions is now paired with a multi-year Russian commitment of financial aid, military technology, food and energy — locking in coordinated military planning between two internationally isolated capitals despite South Korean and EU condemnation.
