Date: Monday, June 17, 2024
Time: 10:30-10:33 A.M.

1. Minister’s Schedule

On June 18, Unification Minister Kim Yung Ho will attend the cabinet meeting at 10 A.M.

On June 20, at 6 P.M., Minister Kim will hold the 12th Evening of Unification.

On June 21, at 10:20 A.M., Minister Kim will deliver remarks at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Unification Culture Festival.

At 11:15 A.M., Minister Kim will attend a talk concert on stories about North Korea.

2. Q&A

Q. Assumptions are being made about the timing of Russian President Putin’s visit to North Korea. What is the Unification Ministry’s analysis of the situation? There is also word about the possibility of the two sides discussing their troops’ automatic intervention in emergency situations – what is the Ministry’s position regarding this probability? In addition, what issues does the Ministry see as likely to be discussed between North Korea and Russia?

A. President Putin’s visit to North Korea is a matter to be released by Russia and North Korea. There is nothing to be confirmed by the Unification Ministry. The Ministry will closely monitor the situation with relevant agencies.

Furthermore, please understand that the Unification Ministry is not in the position to comment on what the agenda is for President Putin’s visit to North Korea.

Q. Though you have refrained from commenting on the schedule as it is a matter that concerns North Korean and Russia, the presidential office confirmed last week that the summit meeting will be held within a few days. If this is true, the summit should take place early this week, but there is no official announcement coming from either state. With the absence of an official announcement, some are speculating that the summit may happen around June 25. Can you explain what the precedent was?

A. North Korea rarely discloses in detail summit meetings with states such as China and Russia ahead of the event. Looking at the record since President Kim Jong Un took office, North Korea and China’s simultaneous announcement of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the North three days prior to the travel in June 2019 was the only case.

For your reference, Russia and North Korea released President Kim’s visit to Russia last September only after his departure from Pyeongyang. The announcement merely stated that a meeting will take place soon, without providing further details.

Q. Referring to last year’s meeting at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, does it mean that an announcement can be made as late as this evening if a meeting were to happen tomorrow?

A. It is difficult to make such generalization as there is not enough past cases. We will need to keep an eye out for when and in what format the announcement will be made by the parties involved.