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Vladivostok Train Station, where North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to arriveon Apr. 24. (Yonhap News)
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N. Korean leader expected to visit various economic and cultural sites throughout city
While North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is visiting the Russian city of Vladivostok on Apr. 24-26 for his first summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he’s reportedly preparing to visit a number of sites aside from the port facility, including a ballet, an aquarium, and the Russian navy’s Pacific Fleet. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Apr. 22 that Kim would be visiting Russia at the “invitation of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, president of the Russian Federation,” although it did specify the date of the visit. On Apr. 22, Japan’s Kyodo News quoted Russian government officials in a report stating that North Korean officials – including Kim Chang-son, director of the secretariat of North Korea’s State Affairs Commission and Kim’s de facto chief of staff – have been visiting a local theater of the world-famous Mariinsky Ballet, the largest aquarium in the Russian Far East, and a base run by the Russian Pacific Fleet in preparation for Kim’s tour. “Vladivostok merits Kim Jong-un’s interest, since its port is a hub for Russian logistics in the Far East and since the starting point of the Trans-Siberian Railway is nearby,” a local source told the Hankyoreh. After departing from Pyongyang on his personal train on Apr. 23, Kim will be passing through Khasan, on the border between North Korea and Russia, reaching Vladivostok on Apr. 24 and dining with Putin that evening. On Apr. 25, the following day, Kim will reportedly be holding a one-on-one summit with Putin, as well as an expanded summit, at Far Eastern Federal University, on Russky Island, to the south of downtown Vladivostok. Kim is likely to tour various facilities in Vladivostok before returning to North Korea on Apr. 26. The last time that a North Korea-Russia summit was held in Vladivostok was in 2002, when former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il made the second of his three visits to Russia. Kim departed from Pyongyang on Aug. 20, 2002, for an Aug. 21-24 trip to the Russian Far East. After visiting a jet fighter factory in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, his first destination, Kim toured the Amur River on a pleasure boat and then attended a concert at Shargol Children’s Camp. After arriving in Khabarovsk on Apr. 22, Kim toured the production facilities at a medicine factory, where the Russian press reported that he asked poking questions about the manufacturing process and the effects of the medicine. During a visit to a factory producing cables for electric communications, Kim also reportedly took interest in a project to build an information and communication network in the Russian Far East. While in Khabarovsk, Kim also visited St. Innocent Cathedral, associated with the Russian Orthodox Church. On Apr. 23, Kim held a summit with Putin in Vladivostok and also took a tour of the shopping area and the port. By Park Min-hee, staff reporter Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
