Putin Upends "No Plan to Meet" and Surprise Meeting With Choi Sun-hee

[Anchor]
Russian President Putin met with North Korean Foreign Minister Choi Sun-hee unannounced on the national holiday.

Russia is believed to have shown the utmost courtesy toward North Korea, with Ukrainian officials claiming that the first North Korean troops sent were already attacked by Ukrainian forces.

Reporter Hong Joo-ye reports.

[Reporter]
Russian National Day of National Reconciliation to commemorate the escape from the Polish occupation in 1612

Russian President Putin offers a bouquet of flowers to a monument in Moscow's Red Square.

This was not the end of Putin's holiday schedule.

I met with North Korean Foreign Minister Choi Sun-hee at the Kremlin without notice, who has continued his Russian schedule since the end of last month.

"I met a friend on my national holiday," he said, and Foreign Minister Choi responded.

[Choi Sun-hee / North Korea's Foreign Minister: We respectfully convey our warm and sincere greetings to Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.]

The Kremlin said last week that Putin had no plans to meet with Choi.

However, it is interpreted as an expression of special respect for North Korea, which even dispatched troops through a surprise meeting that reversed this.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials claimed that the first North Korean troops sent to Russia had already been attacked by Ukrainian forces in Kursk.

Ukrainian President Zelensky also confirmed that 11,000 North Korean troops arrived in Kursk,

Nato head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization once again condemned the deployment of North Korean troops as a significant act of escalating tensions.

[Marc Rutter / NATO Secretary-General: With the deployment of North Korean troops, NATO is becoming more focused and determined to ensure Ukraine has what it needs to fight against Russia and North Korea]

Rutter also said he knew Russia was working with China and Iran, as well as North Korea, adding that this was more motivating for NATO.

I'm Hong Joo Ye of YTN.

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video: Eunji Kang