Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), will visit Russia soon at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Monday.
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Kim "left Sunday afternoon with his train to visit the Russian Federation," said KCNA. According to the agency, Kim, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the DPRK State Affairs Commission, will meet for talks with Putin during the visit.
In a statement issued today, the Kremlin also confirmed that Putin has invited Kim to visit Russia in the coming days.
This is the first overseas trip for the North Korean leader, who has not left the country since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2019, Kim took a 60-hour round-trip train ride from Pyongyang to Hanoi after a summit with then-U.S. President Donald Trump.
Ties between Russia and North Korea date back to the founding of the Asian country 75 years ago.