Kim Jong Un’s train headed to Russia

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is heading to Russia via his luxury armoured train, South Korean media reported, ahead of talks with President Vladimir Putin in Vladivostok that the U.S. said would touch on arms transfers to help the Kremlin’s war machine.

Kim’s personal train was seen moving slowly toward the northeast border area, YTN cable TV reported, citing a South Korean government official it didn’t identify. The Dong-a Ilbo newspaper also reported the train was headed for Russia and expected to cross the border early Tuesday.

Both the Kremlin and North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency on Monday confirmed Kim’s visit to Russia in the coming days. KCNA said Kim would meet with Putin while in Russia. Earlier, a South Korean official said Kim may hold a summit with Putin on Wednesday.

“The intelligence authorities believe the train presumed to be carrying Kim Jong Un is moving to Vladivostok,” a South Korean government official told Yonhap News Agency.

North Korea and Russia have a rail link at their border and from there it’s about 150 kilometres to Vladivostok. The trip will be Kim’s first outside of the Korean Peninsula since he last met Putin four years ago in the city. Kim’s train moves at a plodding pace, with his rail journey to the Russian eastern city taking about 20 hours for him to reach his destination, Yonhap said.

Kim has been expected to travel this week to Vladivostok to meet Putin during the annual Eastern Economic Forum, which started Sunday and runs through Wednesday, according to a person familiar with the moves. A Kremlin spokesman said Monday there were no plans for the two to speak at the event, which left open the possibility they could speak on the sidelines as the forum ends.

Putin and Kim held their first official meeting in April 2019. While the 2019 meeting touched on the breakdown of nuclear disarmament talks between North Korea and the U.S., the upcoming visit will likely be coloured by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The discussions will be focused on the development of the co-operation between the nations, a person familiar said.

The U.S. for months has accused North Korea of supplying munitions to help Putin’s war in Ukraine, something Moscow and Pyongyang have denied. It said again last week that arms negotiations between Russia and North Korea are “actively advancing.”

The most obvious items Pyongyang has and Moscow needs are artillery shells and rockets that Moscow can use in the Soviet-era weaponry it has pushed into action in Ukraine.

North Korea has some of the world’s largest supplies of munitions, which Russia needs as it burns through its stocks of artillery shells.