North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui meets Putin, holds strategic talks with Lavrov in Moscow

Jul 21, 2026

North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui met Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, where she held a third strategic dialogue with Lavrov. North Korean state media KCNA said the two sides reached consensus on all issues discussed and focused on implementing their June 2024 comprehensive strategic partnership treaty. The talks took place amid North Korea’s deployment of an estimated 14,000 troops to support Russian forces in the Kursk region and its continued strengthening of ties with China.

North Korea-Russia strategic dialogue

▪North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held their third strategic dialogue in Moscow on July 20, 2026.
▪North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow on July 19, 2026.

Comprehensive strategic partnership treaty

▪North Korea and Russia reached a consensus on all issues discussed during the strategic dialogue, focusing on implementing their comprehensive strategic partnership treaty.
▪North Korea and Russia signed their Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in June 2024, which includes a mutual defense pact pledging aid if either country faces aggression.

North Korean troop deployment

▪North Korea sent an estimated 14,000 troops to fight alongside Russian forces in the western Kursk region.
▪South Korea's intelligence agency estimates that at least 2,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed while fighting in the war in Ukraine.

Hwanggang Dam water release

▪South Korea's Unification Ministry stated that humanitarian cooperation is needed to manage joint responses to natural disasters in border areas.
▪North Korea released water from the Hwanggang Dam on the upper reaches of the Imjin River without prior notice to South Korea.

Regional security cooperation

▪North Korea has shored up ties with China, including high-level exchanges marking the 65th anniversary of their friendship and mutual defense treaty.
▪North Korea has refused to answer regular inter-Korean liaison calls since April 2023, prompting South Korea to use public media and loudspeakers to convey urgent messages.