Russian Foreign Ministry: "North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui to Visit Russia from 26th to 28th"

North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui will visit Russia from October 26 to 28.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in a press release on the 26th (local time) that "North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui will make a working visit to the Russian Federation from October 26 to 28." Earlier that day, the Korean Central News Agency reported that Choe Son Hui would visit Russia and Belarus at the invitation of the foreign ministries of both countries.

Yonhap News Agency

This marks Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui's first visit to Russia in about a year, since November last year. During this visit, it appears likely that she will discuss the possibility of North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong Un's planned trip to Russia.

Meanwhile, as Choe Son Hui's visits to Russia and Belarus are highly likely to overlap with U.S. President Donald Trump's planned visit to South Korea (October 29-30), some analysts suggest that the prospects for a North Korea-U.S. summit have diminished.

President Trump has previously expressed his desire to meet with Chairman Kim in South Korea, referring to him as a "nuclear power." However, with Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, a key aide, absent, it remains uncertain whether such a meeting will actually take place.