According to KCNA, Kim met with Russia's Security Council secretary Sergei Shoigu the previous day, who made his third visit to the isolated country in just three months, following his previous trip about two weeks ago.
The two discussed "immediate cooperation and long-term plans" based on a mutual defense treaty signed by Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to Pyongyang in June last year, with Kim vowing to "unconditionally support" Moscow "within the range of the treaty between the two countries."
They also apparently discussed additional deployment of North Korean troops to Russia to assist its war in Ukraine.
North Korea reportedly plans to send about 6,000 military personnel including construction workers and deminers to rebuild damaged infrastructure, according to the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.
Over 10,000 North Korean troops are estimated to have been deployed to Russia since October last year, although North Korea denied the deployment for several months before admitting it last spring.
Meanwhile, the South Korean government expressed "serious concerns" over North Korea's plans to send additional troops and slave labor abroad, calling it a "clear violation of UN Security Council sanctions," and also urged Pyongyang to "immediately halt" illegal military cooperation with Moscow.
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