Choe Ryong Hae, the special envoy of Kim Jong Un, is now in Russia. Officially he is in Moscow to discuss economic relations between the two countries, as well as international and regional issues.

Choe has met with the Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. He is also due to visit the Russian Far East. This makes sense, since this is where many joint economic projects between Russia and the North are likely to be based. This year has been marked by hitherto unprecedented intensity of contacts between post-Soviet Russia and North Korea.