North Korea has sent a delegation to Russia led by the president of Kim Il Sung Military University, a key institution for training elite military officers.
The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Workers’ Party of North Korea, reported on Tuesday that the delegation, headed by Kim Kum Chol, departed from Pyongyang International Airport the previous day to visit the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia. University officials, North Korean People’s Army officers, and the Russian defense attaché in North Korea were present to see them off.
While the specific objectives and itinerary of their visit remain undisclosed, it is believed to be aimed at fostering exchanges and cooperation between military educational institutions in North Korea and Russia.
This marks the first public visit to Russia by President Kim and his team in approximately a year, following a North Korean military education delegation sent in July of last year. This year’s visit is likely intended to maintain the momentum of cooperation established on the first anniversary of the signing of the Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two nations.
It’s worth noting that President Kim was designated for sanctions by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in December last year, citing support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
In related news, the newspaper reported that Olga Lyubimova, the Russian Minister of Culture, currently visiting Pyongyang, toured several North Korean cultural institutions the previous day, including the Juche Music Art Development Center, the National Gifts Exhibition House, and the Mansudae Art Studio exhibition hall.