Russian officials made separate high-profile visits to Pyongyang this week, each itinerary symbolic of growing cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow.
One delegation toured the USS Pueblo — a US Navy intelligence vessel seized by North Korea and displayed as a symbol of its claimed victory over the United States — and another attended the opening of a memorial museum honoring North Korean soldiers killed while fighting for Russia in Ukraine, according to North Korean state media and diplomatic sources.
Led by Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, the delegation arrived in Pyongyang on Saturday and was received by Jo Yong-won, a senior official and chairman of the Supreme People’s Assembly, the Korean Central News Agency reported Sunday.
According to KCNA, Volodin and Jo met at the Kumsusan State Guest House, where they explored ways to deepen parliamentary cooperation and reiterated their resolve to carry out agreements reached during past summit talks between their leaders. The two likely referred to the 2024 comprehensive strategic partnership treaty between the two countries, which laid out plans to expand military, economic and technological cooperation and includes provisions for mutual assistance should either country face aggression.
Jo said the visit by a senior Russian delegation demonstrated the Russian public’s support. Volodin thanked North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for backing Russia’s operations in the Kursk region and said North Korean soldiers would be remembered indefinitely.
The visit comes as speculation grows that Kim may travel to Moscow in early May to attend Russia’s Victory Day celebrations on May 9, marking the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany, a move that could further cement ties between the two countries.
The delegation led by Volodin also took part in a ceremony in Pyongyang unveiling a new memorial museum dedicated to North Korean soldiers who died while supporting Russia’s war effort in Ukraine.
South Korea’s intelligence agency, the National Intelligence Service, has assessed that North Korea deployed roughly 15,000 troops to support Russia’s war effort in Ukraine in multiple phases following the signing of a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty in June 2024.
Meanwhile, a delegation led by Russian Internal Affairs Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev visited the USS Pueblo during a recent trip to Pyongyang. The group left the North after completing its itinerary earlier this week, according to photos released by the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang.
The USS Pueblo was seized by North Korean forces on Jan. 23, 1968, while conducting an intelligence-gathering mission in international waters off the port of Wonsan. One crew member was killed and 13 others were wounded during the capture. The remaining 82 were detained for 11 months before being released via Panmunjom in December following protracted negotiations.
The incident marked the first capture of a US naval vessel on the high seas in more than a century, sharply escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula at the height of the Cold War. The US maintains that the ship remains in commission; calls for its return, along with legal efforts seeking compensation for the crew, have continued. In 2022, a US federal court ordered North Korea to pay $2.3 billion in damages to the crew and their families.
Observers say the Russian delegation’s visit to the USS Pueblo highlights the deepening symbolic and strategic alignment between Pyongyang and Moscow, as both sides increasingly project a shared stance in opposition to Washington.
In another sign of strengthening relations, Gennady Zyuganov, leader of Russia’s Communist Party, sent a congratulatory message to Kim marking the anniversary of his first visit to Russia and the recapture of the Kursk region. In the message, Zyuganov said bilateral ties had reached an unprecedentedly high level following the signing of the strategic partnership agreement, according to KCNA.
mkjung@heraldcorp.com
