North Korea deepens ties with China and Russia as rivals expand cooperation

NK envoy heads to Russia; Chinese official visits key resort

North Korea has intensified its outreach to both China and Russia in recent days, hosting a senior Chinese delegation in Pyongyang while dispatching its top diplomat to Moscow, as the rival alignment of South Korea, the United States and Japan expands into civilian nuclear technology.

Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui left Pyongyang aboard a government aircraft Saturday for an official visit to Russia at the invitation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, according to the Korean Central News Agency and Russia’s Foreign Ministry. The trip, her first to Russia in roughly nine months, is the highest-level exchange between the two countries since a memorial honoring North Korean troops who fought alongside Russia was opened in Pyongyang in April.

Because the visit is not tied to a major anniversary or previously announced diplomatic event, analysts said Choe may be laying the groundwork for a potential visit to Russia by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly invited Kim during their June 2024 summit in Pyongyang and again when both leaders attended events in China marking the anniversary of the end of World War II.

The outreach to Russia coincided with events marking the 65th anniversary of the North Korea-China Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance. Kim and Chinese President Xi Jinping exchanged messages, and Wang Huning, chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, led a party and government delegation to North Korea.

Wang’s visit to the Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Area, a flagship development project personally driven by Kim, was particularly notable. Analysts have questioned whether Russian tourists alone can generate enough demand to make the resort financially viable.

“Bringing in Chinese tourists is an issue that can avoid U.N. Security Council sanctions and is therefore critically important for North Korea,” said Oh Gyeong-seop, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification. “Large numbers of Chinese tourists are necessary to revitalize the Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Area, so related discussions are likely to have continued.”

Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, said military and diplomatic accomplishments are easier for Pyongyang to demonstrate than economic achievements. “If Chinese President Xi Jinping visits North Korea and Kim Jong Un subsequently visits Russia, North Korea could present those events as major diplomatic accomplishments,” Park said.

Park added that “practical trilateral cooperation among North Korea, China and Russia has not progressed smoothly, but the Tumen River project could become a vehicle for cooperation among the three countries.”

The diplomatic activity comes as the three countries’ rivals are broadening their own cooperation. South Korea, the United States and Japan recently signed a memorandum aimed at encouraging cooperation among their civilian nuclear industries and supporting the deployment of small modular reactors in third countries.

Analysts cautioned that the latest exchanges between Pyongyang, Beijing and Moscow do not necessarily indicate the formation of a formal trilateral alliance. Their interests frequently differ, and analysts said much of the coordination remains bilateral. The exchanges, however, demonstrate North Korea’s effort to strengthen ties with both of its principal partners as the rival alignment deepens.