North Korea-Russia and North Korea-China deepen high-level diplomacy, seemingly putting Korean Peninsula denuclearization out of reach

Newsis [Financial News] As North Korea strengthens its close diplomatic ties with Russia and China, the chances of dialogue with the United States appear to be fading further. The Trump administration has demanded North Korea's complete denuclearization. North Korea has shut the door not only on inter-Korean dialogue but also on talks with the United States, while continuing a series of high-level meetings with China and Russia.
This closer alignment with Russia and China appears to be a countermeasure against the international community's recent calls for North Korea's denuclearization and policies of isolation. North Korea is also hoping to expand economic cooperation with Russia and China to break through Western economic sanctions. Vladimir Putin met on the 19th local time with Choe Son-hui, who returned to Russia for the first time in nine months.
Putin thanked North Korean troops deployed to Kursk in Ukraine and promised continued cooperation between the two countries, saying, "We will never forget their courage, and we will honor them on equal footing with our own compatriots. " Putin also said he knew that the anniversary of the victory in the Fatherland Liberation War, or the Korean War, was approaching in North Korea. "On this meaningful and historic day, I would like to extend my congratulations to our friends in Korea," he added.
Choe said she would convey Putin's greetings to Kim Jong Un, president of the State Affairs Commission. Observers also say this visit to Russia may have been intended to coordinate Kim's own trip to Russia in advance.
Others are also considering the possibility of additional North Korean troop deployments. After Chinese President Xi Jinping visited North Korea for the first time in seven years last month, economic cooperation between North Korea and China is also expected to accelerate.
Passenger trains and regular air routes between the two countries had already resumed before Xi's visit. In addition, Wang Huning, the fourth-ranking member of the Communist Party and chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), who visited North Korea to mark the 65th anniversary of the North Korea-China Friendship Treaty, toured the Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Area on the 17th.
He was accompanied by senior officials including Jo Yong-won, a close aide to Kim, and Kim Sung-nam, the Party international secretary in charge of North Korea-China relations. Tourism by Chinese visitors, who once accounted for 90% of foreign tourists in North Korea, has sharply declined since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Group tours for Russian visitors were allowed in 2024, but group tours for Chinese visitors have still not resumed. A Chinese party and government delegation led by Wang Huning, chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), who paid an official friendship visit to North Korea to mark the 65th anniversary of the North Korea-China Friendship Treaty, returns to China from Wonsan Kalma Airport on the 17th after completing its schedule in North Korea.Group tours for Russian visitors were allowed in 2024, but group tours for Chinese visitors have still not resumed. A Chinese party and government delegation led by Wang Huning, chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), who paid an official friendship visit to North Korea to mark the 65th anniversary of the North Korea-China Friendship Treaty, returns to China from Wonsan Kalma Airport on the 17th after completing its schedule in North Korea.
Group tours for Russian visitors were allowed in 2024, but group tours for Chinese visitors have still not resumed. A Chinese party and government delegation led by Wang Huning, chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), who paid an official friendship visit to North Korea to mark the 65th anniversary of the North Korea-China Friendship Treaty, returns to China from Wonsan Kalma Airport on the 17th after completing its schedule in North Korea.
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