Amid tensions over the detainment of an American soldier in North Korea, a Russian delegation led by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu arrived in Pyongyang on Tuesday, according to the defense ministry in Moscow, reported TASS news agency. A Chinese delegation will also arrive in North Korea later this week.
"The Russian delegation was ushered in with an official welcoming ceremony at the Sunan international airport (Pyongyang). The Russian defense minister was welcomed by North Korean Defense Minister Kang Sun-nam," said the statement by the Russian Defense Ministry.
As per the report, the delegation will participate in festivities dedicated towards the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War. "This visit will help strengthen Russian-North Korean ties and will be a milestone in the development of cooperation between the two countries," said the Ministry.
The visit was also announced by the North Korean media. Moscow and Pyongyang have been long-time allies after the former lent support to North Korea during the Korean War in the 1960s and their shared animosity towards the West.
Meanwhile, Chinese Communist Party official Li Hongzhong, who is part of the party’s central policymaking committee and holds a leadership position in the top body of its rubber-stamp Parliament, will also lead a delegation to Pyongyang later this week.
These visits come amid rising tensions between North Korea and United States, as well as its ally, South Korea. Pyongyang has fired several ballistic missiles into its eastern sea in weapons testing that is apparently in protest of the US sending major naval assets to South Korea in a show of force.
The Koreas are still technically at war since a peace treaty was never signed. The US, which fought alongside the South Koreans and other allies during the war, never established diplomatic relations with the North.
The issue has been further complicated after US Soldier Private Travis King illegally entered North Korea last week and was detained. North Korea has remained publicly silent about King, who crossed the border during a tour of Panmunjom while he was supposed to be heading to Fort Bliss, Texas, following his release from prison in South Korea on an assault conviction.
