Russian defence minister visits North Korea to talk with military, political leaders

Belousov, a former economist, replaced Sergei Shoigu as defense minister in May after Russian President Vladimir Putin started a fifth term in power.

The visit came days after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met with a Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and called for the two countries to formulate unspecified countermeasures in response to North Korea’s dispatch of thousands of troops to Russia in support of its war-fighting against Ukraine.

North Korea has also been accused of supplying artillery systems, missiles, and other military equipment to Russia that may help Russian President Vladimir Putin further extend an almost three-year war.

There are also concerns in Seoul that North Korea in exchange for its troops and arms supplies could receive Russian technology transfers that could potentially advance the threat posed by leader Kim Jong Un’s nuclear weapons and missile programme.