Russia

Vice Foreign Minister Im Chon-il made the claim in a press statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, weeks after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a rare summit in Russia's Far East on September 13, Yonhap news agency reported.

The video issued by the Ministry on Tuesday showed man who resembles Admiral Viktor Sokolov appears to join a meeting with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and other Russian military leaders via video conference, reports CNN.

Russian Ambassador Andrey Kulik was summoned Seoul's foreign ministry on Tuesday over Moscow's alleged discussions of military cooperation with Pyongyang during the summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Yonhap news agency reported.

"We have withstood the absolutely unprecedented external pressure, the sanctions onslaught of some ruling elites in the ... Western bloc ... in individual countries that we call unfriendly," Putin said on Monday during a meeting on the federal budget for 2024-2026, Xinhua news agency reported.

The train carrying Kim departed the railway station in Russia's Far Eastern city of Artyom as Russian officials saw him off, RIA Novosti news agency said. Kim also waved and gave a salute to the Russian officials, Yonhap news agency reported.

"In the future, only EU citizens permanently residing in Russia or their family members, diplomats or equivalent individuals, or people travelling for humanitarian reasons, can enter Finland with a passenger car registered in Russia," the statement said on Friday.

Kim arrived at a railway station in the city earlier in the day and was welcomed in accordance with traditions for a special guest, Yonhap News Agency quoted local Russian media outlets as saying.

Kim's remarks came as the leaders are expected to meet for their first summit in four years in Russia to discuss a possible arms deal as they seek to strengthen military cooperation, Yonhap news agency reported.

The North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) confirmed early Tuesday that Kim had left Pyongyang for Russia aboard his bulletproof train on Sunday afternoon, accompanied by leading officials of the regime's ruling party and the armed forces, reports Yonhap News Agency.

The New York Times earlier reported that Kim may travel to Vladivostok on his armored train to meet with Putin on the margins of the Eastern Economic Forum, which will run through Wednesday at the Far Eastern Federal University, Yonhap news agency reported.