Putin to visit DPRK, Vietnam: Kremlin

MOSCOW -- Russian President Vladimir Putin will pay a friendly state visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) from Tuesday to Wednesday, the Kremlin press service said Monday.

After the DPRK, Putin will visit Vietnam from Wednesday to Thursday, it said.

The DPRK's top leader Kim Jong Un paid an official visit to Russia at the invitation of Putin in September 2023 and then invited Putin to pay a return visit.

Russia was the first country visited by Kim since the COVID-19 pandemic, during which the borders of the DPRK were closed.

Putin's only previous visit to Pyongyang was in July 2000, two months after his presidential inauguration.