South Korea’s president said he expects North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to meet with the leaders of Russia and China soon, as Pyongyang turns to two old backers ahead of a possible second summit with President Trump.
Mr. Kim, whose trip to China in March was his first outside North Korea as leader, is likely to request support from Beijing and Moscow as he presses the U.S. for concessions in return for North Korean progress on dismantling its nuclear facilities.
On Monday, Mr. Moon said he expects Mr. Kim to travel to Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin and for Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit North Korea in the near future. He added that a summit between Mr. Kim and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is also “open.”
“A new order is being created on the Korean Peninsula,” Mr. Moon told a cabinet meeting, according to a transcript provided by the presidential office.
North Korean state media has reported that a meeting among officials from China, Russia, and North Korea would be held. North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, who has participated in recent nuclear negotiations with the U.S., was in Beijing in recent days and was expected in Moscow to set up the meeting, the North’s state media said.
The Chinese Embassy in Seoul couldn’t be reached for comment.
