North Korea has returned to send a military delegation to Russia in what appears to be A new sample of strengthening the alliance between the two countries. At the head of the group is Kim Kum-Chol, rector of the Military University Kim Il Sung, a figure that had not appeared in public for months and that some analysts were missing.
As reported by the Official Gazette Rodong SinmunThe delegation left on Monday from the Pyongyang International Airport to a Russian Military General Military Academy. It is not the first time: Kim Kum-Chol has already headed a similar visit in July last year.
On this occasion, although the specific objective of the trip has not been detailed, its coincidence with the Anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Integral Strategic Association between Moscow and Pyongyang, Subscribed on June 19, 2023, it suggests that it is part of the commemorative acts and the progressive bilateral approach.
The visit occurs days after the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, met in Pyongyang with Russian Minister of Culture, Olga Lybimova, with whom he attended several joint actsincluding shows at the Great Theater of Pyongyang Oriental and in the House of Culture April 25. In one of them images were screened in which North Korean involvement in the historic battle of Kursk is suggested, as well as The symbolic return of remains of North Korean soldiers fallen on Russian soil.
But beyond the symbolic, the trip of the North Korean delegation could also have operational implications. Various sources suggest that the details for the sending of new North Korean military contingents to Russia this summer would be finalized. In June, the Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Sergei Shoigu, visited Pyongyang and met with Kim Jong-un.
After the meetings, an agreement was announced to deploy up to 6,000 North Korean troops on Russian soil, including a thousand devoid specialized engineers in the Kursk region and another 5,000 soldiers for reconstruction tasks.
It should be remembered that Kim Kum-chol appears on the list of sanctioned by the US since December 2024, accused of facilitating North Korean military support to Russia In the context of the Ukraine War.
Thus, the approach between the two countries is not limited to the military plane. As an example, during this summer, North Korean art will also have its showcase in Moscow. The Russian authorities They have scheduled an exhibition of works by Mansudae Art Studio, The most relevant state artistic collective of North Korea, known for its monumental statues and propaganda works.
The exhibition will be held between August 18 and September 17 at the Panruso de Decorative Museum, as part of an agreement signed between the Ministries of Culture of both countries DURANTE La Visita de Lyubimova a Pyongyang.
The Mansudae study, under the Department of Propaganda and Agitation of the Workers Party, It has been sanctioned by the US and South Korea since 2016 for its role in financing the regime through the export of monumental works of art. He uses more than a thousand artists and has been behind some of the most iconic sculptures in the country, including the statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong-il in the Mansu hill.
Everything indicates that the Moscow-Pyongyang axis continues to consolidate, with agreements that go far beyond the symbolic and that they reinforce cooperation Military, economic and cultural in full reconfiguration of the global geopolitical board.
