Ri Chang Dae leads Pyongyang delegation for Moscow talks as countries expand defense cooperation amid ongoing war in Ukraine.
North Korea’s Minister of State Security, Ri Chang Dae, arrived in Russia on Tuesday to meet with Sergei Shoigu, the secretary of Russia’s Security Council and former defense minister, as the two nations advance their growing military partnership.
Ri is heading a delegation that departed Pyongyang on Monday, according to North Korean state media KCNA, and is scheduled to attend a series of meetings in Moscow.
Russia’s Security Council confirmed last week that Shoigu would take part in the summit, which runs May 28–29 and includes security representatives from India, Iran, and other nations.
This marks the first high-level meeting between the two countries since North Korea acknowledged last month that it had sent thousands of soldiers to fight alongside Russian forces. Analysts suggest these fresh talks could cover joint battlefield strategies and arrangements for repatriating the remains of North Korean soldiers killed in combat.
North Korean captives excluded from prisoner swap
Meanwhile, South Korean lawmaker Yu Yong Weon confirmed that North Korean soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces were not included in the recent mass prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine, completed last weekend after negotiations in Istanbul.
The soldiers, surnamed Ri and Baek, were captured in January and remain in Ukrainian custody. Yu, who met them during a visit to Ukraine in February, said South Korea requested their exclusion, hoping they will publicly express their desire to defect. According to Yu, at least one has already indicated his wish to avoid repatriation due to fear of punishment.
In October 2024, North Korea deployed about 11,000 troops to assist Russian forces in retaking the Kursk region after Ukraine’s surprise offensive — marking Pyongyang’s first foreign combat deployment since the war began.
Russia has since reclaimed nearly all territory lost to the Ukrainian counteroffensive. On Tuesday, Russian forces seized four border villages in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region, days after President Vladimir Putin ordered the creation of a buffer zone along the border to prevent further cross-border attacks.
Sumy shares a border with Russia’s Kursk region, and the area has become a key vulnerability, Putin said, as Moscow pushes to secure its frontlines.
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